Between the songs
by makispuppy
Summary: It will follow the life of a certain redhead as she and the rest of the Muse's go through more than one challenge. *slowpaced-EliMaki* Basically: What happens between the scenes or... songs?
1. Chapter 1 - At the beach

**Author's note: the story will be from Maki's perspective (mostly). It begins at the episode 10, season 1 and it will follow the anime... except in this first chapter were the girls get there late at night so they go to sleep, then they wake up, go to the beach, etc. It will be slow paced and (probably) long. Also... *winks at a certain blonde* ;)**

 **PS: English is not my first language so I will gladly accept you guys pointing out any grammar mistakes. Please do it ;-;**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Love Live. *cough*loveliveownsme*cough***

* * *

 **At the beach.**

After Honoka insisted, I asked my parents about using our beach house for a summer trip. The trip is supposed to be for more school idol training but I think it will be far from it… Obviously, my parents agreed and were happy about it. They always worry about me for being such a 'loner'. They were enthusiastic when I joined Muse's, like they didn't had to worry anymore about me, not having friends … the problem is that they think we are just playing around, they don't know how serious we are about it and it frustrates me. I know they will start to worry about how much time I am wasting being a school idol instead of doing something more productive. I sigh… _Whatever_ , I thought.

The point is that we arrived late today to my summer house. We were all tired, so the other girls went to bed in their respective rooms. I couldn't sleep so I decided to do one of the things I like the most: reading outside the beach house. I turn around the page I just finished reading, when…

"Huh? Maki?" I jump in surprise, I look up and it was Eli. She giggled, probably at my jump scare. "I-I didn't mean to scare you-" I blush and look away.

"Y-You didn't! What are you doing here anyway, Eli-senpai?" I cut her off and then I keep looking at the words in my book, reading… or pretending to. I'm watching Eli sideways, she sighs with frustration and looks at the moon, which is very bright today, it lights up the night.

"Why aren't you sleeping? It's late." She just says looking at me. "And I told you to not use the senpai-"

"Well, I'm reading." I interrupt her, _it' so obvious._

"I-I know that!" Eli sighs "you're so troublesome…" I ignore the comment.

"What are you doing here?" I ask once again, no longer looking at my book.

"I'm going to swim." She looks serious at me and I blink with surprise. Just noticed she has a towel, _is she crazy?_ I asked myself. "You go to sleep." Eli says simply and walks away, towards the beach.

"D-Don't tell me what to do!" I muttered as she keeps walking away. _And I am the troublesome one?_ I keep looking at the blonde… until I can't see her anymore. I snort with frustration as I stand up. _She can't be swimming this late, right?_

I walk to the beach and I can't see her silhouette, _is she really swimming?_ I start to get worried at the sudden craziness of the student council president. That's when I see her, apparently lying on the sand. _Ugh,_ _I'm glad there's lights here at night_ , I walk towards Eli stopping just in front of her head. I cross my arms as I look down, it seems like she was looking at the sky.

"Huh?" she looks at me, she seems surprised for a second but then she smiles. "You wanted to watch the stars too?"

"What?" I exclaim silently as I look up. _So that's what she's doing,_ I stay to myself while looking at the stars, they look so lively today _how I didn't noticed?_ "Sheesh, so that's what you were doing…" I say looking down to her again. "I almost thought you were really swimming-"

"It was a joke." She giggles, then looks back at me. "Wait, were you worried?" I look away embarrassed.

"O-of course I wasn't!" I quickly deny.

"There's some space here." _What?_ I look at her again and she puts her hand to the right of her towel, gesturing me to sit next to her. "You can't look at stars like this every day…"

"Ah, well… you should go back to bed." I say nervously as she rolls her eyes with frustration.

"You are the one who should go back to bed" Eli voices with an unamused face, looking at the stars once again and resting her hands on her stomach.

"Don't-"

"Don't tell me what to do!" She mimics my words as I snort.

"Fine, I'll sit, but just because I love stargazing too." I say frustrated as I lie down next to her, I look up to the sky while I put the book on my belly. I look at Eli sideways, she's looking at me with surprise.

"You love stargazing?" Eli asks, I get embarrassed, noticing that I accidentaly mentioned one of my secret hobbies.

"N-No…" I try to lie, I look at her once again. "I mean… yeah, I do." I admit with defeat, she grins as I focus on the stars to avoid the blonde's eyes, my cheeks are probably red by now.

"I used to watch the stars with my grandma on clear nights back in Russia." Eli says randomly like she also had to share some personal information so we are even. I look at her, feeling intrigued. "That's the Ursa Major." I look up.

"Yeah, and that's the minor." I say recognizing the other one.

"Ah! So you do know about constellations." She giggles at me.

"O-Of course I do." I muttered. _I... just really know those two we just mentioned._

"Well, I don't know that much about it…" she voices. "I just like to look at then when I remember to."

"I-it's not like I know a lot about them, though…" I admit to her and she giggles, probably at my unsureness. Then we just keep looking at the stars in silence for a bit… I hate when I get too distracted with my responsibilities and forget to just look around and enjoy the view. I realize I feel really calm right now so I start to notice how tired I am, I woke up especially early today so I can't stop a yawn.

"Hey, you're sleepy!" Eli points out, looking at me. My cheeks get red at the comment, and redder as I notice we are so close, our shoulders are almost touching.

"I-I'm not!" I deny with frustration as I look away.

"Yes, you are." She smiles and I just snort. "I have a lot of sleep resistance, you know?" Eli says proudly.

"Me too!" I exclaim, not wanting to sound weak. "I just woke up super early getting stuff ready for this annoying trip you all planned!" Eli laughs, not getting offended by my apparent harsh words.

"Fine, fine. Let's go, then." Eli says standing up and I do the same automatically, still feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm sure Umi prepared a particularly tough regime for us tomorrow…" I laugh at Eli's words and she does the same. "Harasho! You laughed." She says teasingly as she grabs her towel.

"I-I… Ugh, let's go already!" I voice in a hurry.

"Close your eyes." She says simply. _W-what?..._

* * *

 **And that's the end of the introductory chapter, I know it was a short one... I suppose you can already guess the (maybe) main pairing. If you read the entire chapter, thank you! If you didn't, thanks for reading this note haha!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Pillow fight

**A longer chapter this time... hope you enjoy! Any tips are welcome.**

 **Reminder: slow paced story. PS: thanks for the correction, anon!  
**

* * *

 **Pillow fight**

 _Close my eyes? Wh-_ I thought just before Eli started to shake her towel, I managed to take my arm up to avoid the sand getting into my eyes, just in time. "Hey! Be careful!" I protest to the older girl.

"I told you to close your eyes…" she says with patience. "Well, let's go, then." And just like that she proceeds to walk towards the house. It took me a few seconds to react, so I had to take a few quick steps to catch up to her.

"Be careful next time!" I mutter angrily.

"Next time? Sorry, sorry." Eli says smiling at me, _her jokes, ugh... I didn't meant it like there's going to be a next time._ I notice she is trying to look at the cover of my book. "What are you reading?"

"Huh? I-it's nothing…" I respond rather quickly as the blonde rolls her eyes.

"Why are you so stubborn?" she takes the book out of my hand so fast I couldn't stop her so I just stay looking at her with surprise, _she is fast._ "Ah, I've read this book too." She lends the book back to me and sighs heavily. "You have to make everything hard, don't you?" I look away, feeling a bit guilty. S _he was just asking something, Maki… why I am so bad at talking to people… I'll never know._

"Y-you're even more stubborn!" I mutter the first thing that comes to my mind. "And what are you, a ninja?" I say half-jokingly, referring to Eli's quick movement when getting the book out of my hand. She laughs and I giggle in response. "It's good so far…" I say shyly as I curl my hair.

"It is." The blonde says with a little smile. "I didn't liked the ending, though. You'll see why." she voices thoughtfully.

"Ugh, did you just ruined the book for me?" I protest as we reach to the house entrance, I cross my arms. "Wow, thanks…" I voice with sarcasm, but I'm secretly happy to be talking about books with someone else, _for a change_.

"N-No, I didn't! I didn't told you any spoilers!" I giggle at her worry as the both of us walk upstairs.

"You did ruined it, but whatever." I sigh jokingly as I put my shoulders up, the other girl just shakes her head with a smile. We are now standing in front of the room she is sharing with Nozomi and Nico.

"I did not. 'But whatever'…" _is she mocking me?_ Eli giggles. _Ugh, she is! "_ Goodnight, Maki." I try to hide a smile.

"You are _not_ funny, you know?" I voice, making the blonde laugh once again as she grabs her doorknob. "Night, Eli-senpai."

"You're just jealous I'm funnier than you." She whispers as she opens the door. "And stop calling me-"

"Shh, you are going to wake everyone up." I whisper back to avoid another scolding, then I walk away. I heard Eli's sigh which makes me grin as I'm entering to my room. I'm happily not sharing it with anyone, Rin and Hanayo took the visitors room next to mine. I went directly to bed, yawning before letting my head rest on the pillow…

—

I woke up just moments before my alarm clock made a sound, I set it up because I didn't wanted to risk sleeping more than I should and having someone else waking me up, that would be so embarrassing. After I brushed my teeth's I decided to check if the other girls were awake. I heard some voices coming from the kitchen as I walk downstairs… When I got to the kitchen I recognize the third years are cooking breakfast. Nozomi seems to notice my presence and turns around to look at me.

"Oh, Maki-chan, good morning!" Nozomi says with a tender smile, Eli turns around and smiles at me while Nico stays focused on cooking.

"Good morning…" I voice shyly… _ugh, they seriously seem like they are our parents… Well, except Nico-chan._

"About time the younger ones started to get ready, sheesh!" Nico shouts with frustration, but she seems really entertained. _So this girl likes cooking after all?_

"Huh? You would be sleeping if I hadn't woken you up, Nicocchi" Nozomi says with a smirk but Nico just ignores the comment. "Behave, don't make me grope you." The third year voices with a pervy smile, I roll my eyes while I sit at the table, leaning on my elbow.

"Ah, Maki-chan, good morning!" Umi's voice comes from behind me. She sighs with frustration. "I'm glad you're awake, it took me a lot to make Rin wake up… and Kotori is still trying to make Honoka stand up." She shakes her head in disapproval. "We have so much to do today!" I notice Eli laughs and I giggle silently, _just like she said yesterday, Umi has already plans for the day._

After a while, the other girls joined us for breakfast, then Eli said we needed to get ready for practice, Umi was excited. All of us were standing in front of the second year student, who is showing us some training charts. _She went full military this time…_ I said to myself, looking at the intense practice we have ahead. I hear Honoka, Rin and Nico snorting, _of course they are totally against it_ … Rin managed to distract Umi and in a blink of an eye she grabbed Hanayo as Honoka, Nico and her escaped towards the beach, with Kotori following them. I sigh, _they are so hopeless…_

"C-Come back!" Umi yelled, but it was too late.

"Well, it can't be helped…" Eli says and I look at her.

"But, Eli-senpai-"

"I told you 'senpai' is not allowed." Eli says and winks to Umi. "We have been practicing a lot lately, we also need some time to play together." She says with a smile, Umi responds with a sigh, defeated.

" _Play together_ … hehe." Nozomi replays the words to no one and giggles, I shake my head, _she has no shame._

"Umi-chan, Eli-chan!" We hear Hanayo yelling from the beach, she's with the other girls. Eli waves at them in response.

"Okay, let's go!" Eli exclaims happily. _Ha! It seems like our student council president is not as strict today…_

Now everyone is wearing their swimsuits as the nine of us get to the beach. I sigh as the other girls enter to the water, I just go sit on my usual beach lounge. Nozomi was filming with her camera while Kotori found a water gun and she was ready to use it… I return my eyes to the book, _I really want to finish this chapter…_ I stay there reading while the others just kept playing around. After sometime Nico joined me, sitting on the lounge next to mine… it didn't took long for her to go back to them after Rin challenged her.

"Maki-chan, come join us!" I look up and it's Honoka waving at me.

"Huh?" I return my eyes to the book. "Uhm, no thanks…" I say shyly, I don't need to look up to know Honoka is dissapointed.

 ***Eli's POV:**

I sigh at Maki. She's too stubborn to join us… for now.

"I see" I hear Nozomi saying, she's also looking at Maki.

"Maki seems like a hard nut to crack." I voice looking at the redhead, Nozomi looks at me and giggles. "w-what? I said something funny?"

"Not at all, Elichi." Nozomi answers with a smile. _Uhm…_

 _..._

 ***Back to Maki's POV:**

After we ate our lunch it didn't took long for the others to be eager to go back to the beach. I lie down once again on my lounge, _back to the book again, I guess…_ I thought to myself as I realized we are definitely not going to practice today _._ I hear Hanayo and Rin talking happily in the distance, I look up and I can't help but spy on them … they are, uhm, attempting? To build a sand castle. I sigh but I can't stop a giggle, _these two._ I shake my head as I return my focus to the book. A few minutes pass before I hear a familiar voice…

"You are getting close to the end." It was Eli, se startled me a bit since I didn't noticed she's standing next to my lounge. "You'll see what I meant yesterday." She voices as she now looks at the other two first years.

"Actually, it was today… it was already past 12" I correct the older girl and she rolls her eyes, then she smiles looking at the ocean. I don't know why but I stay looking at her, that smile intrigues me… I blush when I notice what I'm doing so I look away quickly, returning my eyes to the printed words… but still looking sideways. I can feel Eli is watching me this time… "W-what?" I ask looking at those blue eyes.

"N-Nothing!" Eli says nervously… _why she is not with the others?_

"Eli-chan, Maki-chan! We need some help nya!" We heard an entertained Rin shouting at us, apparently the castle… well, there's no castle anymore… now it's just a pile of sand. We giggle simultaneously at the situation.

"I-It's an emergency!" Hanayo voices with urgency.

"We are going to make the best castle ever!" Honoka yells with excitement as she joins the two first years, with Umi and Kotori following her lead.

"Come on." Eli says with a smile, asking me to come with them.

"Y-You go first." My mouth answers without letting me think, Eli sighs with frustration and leaves to help the others. I stay looking at them… _I should go to the water_ , I thought as I felt the hotness of the air. _I just need to refresh myself… then, maybe I'll join them…_ _not that I want to help them anyway…_ that's what I thought, even though I knew I was half lying to myself. I leave my book on the lounge and I start walking to the water, I notice sideways two pairs of eyes looking at me…

"Maki-chan, you're going to the water just when we are not there nya! It's not fair!" Rin cries and I sigh heavily at her words, _I give up._

"I-I'll join you after I swim a bit, Rin, okay?" Rin seems pleased with my answer and smiles, I turn around.

I enjoy the ocean's feel as I get used to the water's temperature. I get myself under the water and I make a sigh of relief when I come out, feeling refreshed. I swim a bit more, getting where the waves begin to form. I love diving in to avoid them, letting the water movement pass over my head. I feel relaxed as I stay there for a while, escaping from the waves…

"Maki, you need to be careful!" I recognize is Umi's voice. _Huh?_ I turn around, the second year and Eli are standing with their feet's in the water, looking at me.

"Yes, come back immediately!" I hear Eli shouting this time, I laugh, _these two think I am a small child or wha-_ that's when a big wave hits me, sucking me into water without warning. I manage to get out and I take a huge breath of air when I reach the surface.

"Maki, are you okay?" I hear Umi once again, she and Eli are getting into the water.

"I'm fine!" I shout with anger and embarrassment as I swim back towards the two girls, they stop when they observe I'm okay.

"You need to be careful…" I hear Eli saying to me as I walk past them.

"She is right! Swimming alone is dangerous." Umi agrees with the blonde, the two of them following my steps as I walk, annoyed at them.

"It was because you two distracted me!" I say with frustration as I turn around to look at them, I feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. "I can take care of myself!"

"W-we were just being cautious…" Eli explains putting her hands up in surrender. I just snort, crossing my arms and looking away while Umi laughs nervously.

"I'm not a baby." I voice silently to no one in particular.

"Eli-chan, come back! We need your help here." I hear Kotori half-crying and I turn my face to look at the others, the castle… _wow,_ it's actually looking decent, even though a tower just fell. Eli giggles as she quickly walks back to them… I had to stop myself from smiling, _Eli likes sand castles?_ The thought makes me forget the bitterness and embarrassment I had.

"I'll go help Nico and Nozomi at the house." Umi informs me as she walks away, I stay there… looking at the other girls working on the castle like it was their most important project. I feel the need to join them but I hesitate.

"Maki-chan, come help us nya!" I hear Rin once again, for some reason my eyes move to Eli's. I sigh but I finally walk to them.

"Fine." I answer simply as the other girls smile at me. I sit next to Eli, who is very focused on fixing the destroyed tower. I take a look to the rest of the castle, _Eli definitely helped them…_ "You all are doing a decent job here, who would have thought…"

"Ah! So you like it!" Honoka says teasingly, which makes my cheeks flush at the accusation.

"I-It's not _that_ good!" I say embarrassed and I hear Eli's giggle. I sigh once again and then I take my attention to the castle as I try to help here and there. The other girls are chatting happily and I take a glance at the blonde next to me, I can't stop a giggle, she's so focused into making the perfect castle. S _he is such a baby!_ I thought to myself when Eli made a little flag using a leaf and a stick. She placed it at the top of the tower, then she smiled at it, almost proudly. I giggled again, this time Eli noticed I was observing her moves. "Why are you so good at this? Sand castles…" I ask the now embarrassed girl… _wait, did I just called her 'baby' in my mind?_ I shake my head to shake the thought too.

"I-I'm not…" I look at her with a smirk. "Fine… I like sand castles, okay?" she says whispering and I laugh. _She's blushed, ha! The childish side of Ayase Eli…_

"You are so childish…" I say teasingly, grinning at her.

"L-look how's talking! You even put some rocks there as decorations!" she counter attacks my words.

"B-because that's what you were doing! Sheesh…" I grumble as we lock our eyes in a challenging way… then we giggle, probably at our own silly discussion.

"Hehe, Maki-chan and Eli-chan seem to be getting along." Honoka smirks at us.

"D-don't say things like that!" I voice with embarrassment as I return my focus to the castle while I listen to Eli's nervous giggle. Then we stay there, finishing the last touches of the famous building.

"I think it's done, nya!" Rin exclaims happily, standing up with a jump. _I just hope Rin doesn't destroy it by accident, with all this excitement she has…_ I giggle at the thought as we all stand up to admire our… _yeah, it is a decent castle_.

"Kotori-chan, get it on video!" Honoka says to the other girl, who has Nozomi's camera on her hands.

"It just needs…" Eli says reflectively, then she kneels down and starts digging, all of us keep looking at her with curiosity… _what is she- Oh!_ She's making a waterway from the castle's lake to the shore… as Eli stands up one ocean wave gets to the waterway making the water flow until it fills the lake.

"Ohhh!" The other girls exclaim with joy, I smile as I cross my arms looking at Eli.

"Well, that was smart." I voice with one eyebrow up, she smiles shyly in response. I giggle silently.

"It was amazing nya!" Rin says with another jump.

"Eli-chan is like a sand queen or wizard…" Honoka says impressed, the compliments make Eli laugh nervously.

"D-Don't say that, Honoka." I smirk at the blonde's embarrassment. "Let's just go help the others." She orders, making the others follow her words almost automatically. We all walk back to the house, Eli and I at last.

"Ha! You're blushed." I point out teasingly, which makes her cheeks get pinker. I laugh as the two of us keep walking a couple of steps behind the others.

"Look who is talking… Y-you are the one who always blush!" Eli says defending herself and I flush at her words. "See?" _great, now she is the one laughing at me!_

"I-I'm not!"

"You are." The blonde says with a smirk as we get to the beach lounges, I grab my book, trying to ignore her words.

"Ugh, you are annoying." I voice with frustration to the other girl.

"You started it." She says raising her shoulders. "I am just joking." Then she puts her hand fondly on my head for just a second.

"Right." I answer simply, looking away from her as I feel my face getting redder because of her last gesture.

When we arrived to the house, Nozomi said they needed some other ingredients to finish dinner so I decided to change my clothes and grab my stuff to get to the store before hunger strike us all. I start walking downstairs.

"I'll go!" Honoka offers herself to get the food we need. _She is probably very hungry by know, knowing her…_

"Its fine, I'll go by myself. No one knows where the store is, so-"

"Then I'll go with you." Nozomi voices putting her hand up. "You don't mind spending some time with me, right?" I look at her unamused, _she will insist if I refuse, so it's not like I have a choice._ I sigh for the hundred time today.

That's how I ended up walking to the store with Nozomi, she's a couple of steps ahead of me, like she knows the way to the store. _I don't think her cards know that information…_

"Oh! What a beautiful sunset." The vice-president comments as she turns her look to the horizon.

"What are you doing?" I ask the older girl, _I know she is planning something._

"Nothing, I just think you're a handful." I look away sighing. _Here we go,_ I thought, knowing her she is about to give me some weird advice like she always does when we are alone _._ "You wish you could be closer with everyone, but you are not honest with your feelings." She voices enigmatically.

"I-I'm just like this… I don't know what you are talking about, I don't wish any of that." I say curling my hair, _it's not like I want to play with them, wasting my time it's not my style…_ I lie to myself.

"See? You can't be honest with yourself-"

"What do you want from me, then?" I cut her off with frustration, she suddenly stops walking.

"I can't leave you alone, I'm an expert with girls like you…" she looks at me like she can see right through me.

"Now you're just talking crazy things" I say, not really understanding what she meant. Or not wanting to.

"You should try to have fun from time to time, we are on a trip together after all, you know?" then she keeps walking.

"Why are you acting like you know where the store is anyway?" I muttered, trying to change the subject.

"Well, I know some things or two…" I sigh heavily as I keep following her, not knowing what else to say. I get lost in my own thoughts. _I just want to be alone. A loner, that's who I am and no one is going to change that._ Even though I know I don't seem like a loner now, since I'm surrounded by the other muse's members most of the time. _So that's what Eli and Nozomi have been doing… they just want me to fit in_. _Maybe Nozomi is right… but I just don't know how to get close to people._ I shake my head, _I don't need to get close to anyone. Besides, I'm just their composer and nothing more… right?_

We arrived from the store and Nico finished the dinner rather quickly, I was really hungry at that point and so were the others. We ate a really good food and the nine of us took a bath… Later, Rin found some futons in her room, _this isn't going to end well_ … all the girls decided to sleep together in them so they all placed the futons at the living room. I sigh with annoyance, _I knew it._ I sit on one of the sofas while Nico, Honoka and Rin are rolling around the futons. I roll my eyes, taking my attention to my phone. _Why do we have to do this?_

"Why do we have to sleep in the same room?" I decide to voice my question out loud, hoping someone wants to stop this nonsense too.

"We are in an overnight trip together, Maki." Eli says like that explains it all.

"It will be fun!" Nozomi says exited and I sigh with defeat. _These two need to stop._

"Okay, let's decide who sleeps where!" Honoka says with excitement as her and Nico fight for a spot. Rin makes sure to save a place next to Hanayo.

"What about you, Maki-chan?" Nozomi asks me, I return a serious expression at her while I curl my hair.

"I don't care." I answer closing my eyes and looking away. I hear Eli and Nozomi giggling.

I ended up sleeping on the odd futon, with my head next to Nozomi's and Eli's. After what seemed like a couple of seconds, not even a minute… Honoka started to make some noises, she couldn't sleep so she tried to eat some food. We turn the lights on… That's when Nico turned around telling us to go to sleep.

"Harasho…" Eli says horrified at… Nico's beauty treatment. Hanayo and Rin look as scared as ever.

"Just go to sleep already!" Nico shouts just before Nozomi throws a pillow to her face.

"Maki-chan, what are you doing?" _What? Is she seriously trying to blame me?_ Then Nozomi proceeds to throw another pillow, this time to Rin, Rin throws one to Honoka and Honoka to… I was able to stop the pillow with my arm. _What are they doing?_

"You're not going to throw it back?" Nozomi asks me with a giggle.

"You-" I start saying but a pillow hits my face, cutting off my argument… It was Eli, I look at her as she hides her grin with one hand. "Ugh, fine!" I voice with frustration as I grab a pillow. "Bring it on!"

And that's how the war started, all the girls now throwing her pillows around. I was barely able to dodge a double-pillow-hit from Nozomi and Eli. The fight continues with laughs coming all around… that is until we hit Umi by accident. Apparently she gets really mad when someone wakes her up… in a blink of an eye Umi goes into full assassin mode! After she gives Nico, Honoka and Eli a headshot, she is ready to end with Rin and Hanayo too… that's when Nozomi and I manage to hit Umi's head, which makes the second year student fell asleep again. _That was close_ … We sigh with relief, even though we are talking about just soft and harmless pillows.

"Maki-chan, Nozomi-chan, you saved us!" Hanayo cries with joy, still hugging Rin.

"But you started the war, Maki-chan!" Rin says teasingly.

"N-No, I didn't! It was Nozomi." I voice, looking serious at the third year girl.

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Nozomi denies with a giggle.

"Ugh, you are-" Nozomi cuts me off, hitting my face with a pillow. "What are you doing, Nozomi?!" I mutter with frustration, _what is up with her now?! First the talk and now this?_

"You can say my name naturally now." _Huh?_ I look at Nozomi and I get embarrassed instantly as I notice she is right. "You are handful." She says once again while the other girls smile at me.

"You are!" I shout, looking away... _I can't believe I just said her name like that._ I can see Eli smiling at the situation… _how did she survived Umi's headshot?_ I had no idea.

The girls talked happily for a couple of minutes before everyone decided to finally sleep. _Or more like everyone but me…_ I thought, noticing the other girls are sleeping. I grab my book as I go to my usual spot outside the house. _I just want to read this chapter…_ I thought to myself as I hear some silent steps.

"Maki?" This time Eli's voice doesn't surprise me. "Reading again, huh?"

* * *

 **It was another introductory kind of chapter, I really hope you enjoy character development and bonding and all... I try to do my best in writing from Maki's mind. Thank you to anyone who reads/comments/follows the story! I appreciate it a lot. Have a great day!**

 **Note: did a quick update fixing some words. Thanks to the anon reviewer who corrected my silly mistake haha! (I wish i could reply to guests reviews).**


	3. Chapter 3 - My friends

**Author's note: a very friendship oriented chapter. I know for some people the story might seem very slow paced... but oh well, I just think this is how this story works... I hope you like this chapter! Have a great day, btw.**

* * *

 **My friends**

"Y-yeah… did I wake you up?" I ask, feeling a bit guilty as Eli opens her eyes wide, surprised by the question.

"N-Not at all!" She says crossing her arms, she seems embarrassed which makes me giggle.

"I just wanted to finish this chapter, at least." I voice, returning my eyes to the book.

"You are getting to-"

"Don't say it!" I jokingly interrupt her, she giggles and sits in front of me. We are both sitting on the floor.

"Fine, just finish this chapter so then we can look at the stars again." I blink twice, surprised by the proposal. "U-Unless you don't want to…"

"N-no, it's not that… I mean, you can go ahead." I curl my hair nervously.

"I can wait." She sits more comfortably and looks up to the sky as I look at her with confusion. _She seems sleepy…_ I notice as she makes a small yawn.

"You should go back to sleep, you seem tired…" She gives me an unamused face.

"I sleep when I want… I'm not a baby." She says looking away making me roll my eyes, I giggle silently after that. The stars seem even more lively than last night. I stand up.

"Let's go. You can't look at stars like this every day, right?" I say mimicking Eli's words from last night, she seems surprised for a few seconds but then stands up too, smiling. "Where's your towel?" I ask when I notice she doesn't have it.

"Uhm, I forgot it at the table-"

"I'll go get it!" I exclaim as I rush back into the house, it took me just a few seconds to find the towel. I go back outside and Eli hasn't moved. "W-what?" I ask Eli, who keeps looking directly at me…

"N-nothing." She answers kind of shyly.

"I-it's not like I want to go! I just want to get over with it already!" I walk past her, _maybe I was too enthusiastic… I like watching the stars, but…_ I keep walking and the older girl catches up to me, now the two of us are walking towards the beach. "I haven't finished this chapter but I already don't get what's going on." I muttered, trying to change the subject.

"No spoilers!" Eli says smirking at me as we get to the beach.

"Seriously? Now you don't want to talk about it?" I sigh.

"I'm not ruining you the book." She says with a smile, she seems pensive. "I'm surprised you wanted to watch the stars again with me." Eli voices like she is thinking out loud, _she makes it sound SO embarrassing!_

"I-I… I didn't! You were the one who…" She giggles, making my words stop, I blush.

"Uhm, you're not putting the towel on the sand?" She asks, I didn't noticed we were already standing at the same spot we were last night.

"R-right!" I voice awkwardly as I drop the towel. I look around, feeling uncomfortable and that's when I see the castle. "It's still there." I say looking at the structure, Eli looks there too.

"It won't be there tomorrow, though." She says as she fix the corners of the towel on the sand, then lies down and I do the same, next to her like yesterday.

"Rin is going to be heartbroken…" I joke and we giggle.

"Well, it was a nice castle…"

"Your masterpiece." I joke again and laugh, remembering Eli building the castle. We stay like that, watching the stars for a while.

"Can I ask you a question?" I hear the blonde asking a bit shyly. I look at her with surprise but she still has her eyes on the sky. I blush as I return my eyes up there too.

"S-sure…" I answer, not really knowing what to expect.

"I'm wondering… why it took you so long to join the Muse's? Honoka told me you composed their first song." I open my eyes wide with surprise. "You were interested from the very beginning."

"N-no, I wasn't! I-I didn't…" I mutter, embarrassed by Eli's words. "You were interested from the beginning too!" I counter attack to the blonde's surprise. "I remember you were going home before their first concert, but then you returned and entered to the control room to watch them. So don't try to-"

"How do you know that?" Eli asks, surprised by the information I shared.

"Oh, well…" I move uncomfortably. "Because I had to hide from you when you came back…" I blush as I curl my hair. "It was useless because Nozomi still discovered me after, so…" Eli giggles, making me feel even more embarrassed, she is grinning at me.

"But then you even clapped at them, so you were-"

"I wasn't going to give them a negative speech like you did!" I interrupt her, now she seems embarrassed and guilty by memory.

"Ugh, fine. You win this time." I giggle, _ha! "_ I guess it took us both a lot to join the group."

"I-It took you a lot more than me." I say defensively but she giggles. "What's with all these questions, anyway?" I ask her, not understanding why she wanted to talk about it.

"I just thought… it makes me happy that I joined." She smiles, _happy?_ "And I'm glad you helped them… If you had not, well… I'm just glad all of us are friends now." _Did she just said… friends?_ I stay looking at her as confusion hits my mind…

"I-I'm glad you joined in the end…" I muttered, but my head was still replaying her words. _All of us… she considers all of them…_ "I-I mean, our performances improved greatly." I say blushed as the blonde smiles with gratitude. Then we stay like that, looking at the stars… I feel relaxed as my mind keeps processing my own thoughts. "I hate when I forget to do things like stargazing because of life getting in the way…" I randomly felt like sharing when I noticed there was too much silence, I feel my cheeks burning, embarrassed for sharing my thoughts. "I-I mean, I used to look at the stars more often…"

"Perspective… I forget about it too." I smile at her words. "We get distracted and forget to do the things we love."

"Y-you are right…" The memories of the last months I've spend with the other muse's members came to my mind. I can't stop a smile. "We sound like Nozomi right now" I say jokingly, returning my brain to the present. We both laugh.

"Good observation…" Eli says, then she seems unable to stop a yawn. _Ha! I knew she was tired._

"Huh? Where is your sleep resistance?" I say mockingly and she blushes, making me laugh.

"Very funny…" She says sarcastically and stands up. "I woke up earlier than you. We should go back anyway, tomorrow we have to practice for real this time." I stand up, grabbing her towel.

"Just so you don't attack me with sand again." I voice explaining my last movement, she rolls her eyes.

"I told you to close your eyes!" we start walking back to the house.

"Yeah, sure." I say with sarcasm as she sighs. Then my mind returns to Eli's words about the group… _maybe I did wanted to join. And maybe I'm a little happy to have joined them too…_ I say to myself, half-accepting the situation this time. I'm feeling secretly happy about our talk… even though Eli probably doesn't know what her words made me realize. I'm also feeling grateful towards Nozomi and Eli, they been trying to make me fit in nicely all weekend… _honest with my feelings,_ I thought, remembering Nozomi's words. _I wanted to join, not because of the dancing or the non-classic music, I wanted to join because of them,_ I said to myself just when we got to the house. "Uhm…" I muttered, wanting to say something to the older girl but I didn't knew what exactly.

"What?" She whispers as we enter to the living room, the others are sleeping soundly.

"N-nothing. Goodnight." I whisper back, leaving Eli's towel where it was before.

"Uhm, goodnight." Eli sounds a bit confused as the both of us go back to our futons. _Friends…_

—

I randomly woke up in the early morning… and it seems like I'm the first one to. Hanayo is hugging Rin, and the others are sleeping soundly, even Eli. Wait… but Nozomi is not here.

"Huh?" I stand up rubbing my eyes… _Where is she?_ I look around and I can't find her, but something tells me the spiritual girl must be looking at the sunrise, _knowing her_. So I walk outside, towards the beach… I can see her silhouette from far away, starring at the horizon. I walk towards the third year…

"Huh?" She turns around when I'm a couple of steps away from her. "The early bird gets the worm." She says with a smile. "We will need the power from the sun today." She returns her eyes to the sea.

"What are you doing?" I ask the older girl.

"It's not for you. Looking at the ocean makes all your worries seem small." I stand next to her, smiling because of her words.

"I agree." I say with a nod as I take my eyes to the sunrise that's about to start.

"Maki-chan? I love all muse's members, I don't want anyone to feel left out. I love all of them." Nozomi looks at me. "I might have said too much, don't tell anyone okay?" I smile at the other girl.

"You're a handful too, aren't you, Nozomi?" She giggles at my question.

"Nozomi-chan, Maki-chan!" It's Honoka's voice. Nozomi and I turn around only to find the other seven girls running to us. "We were looking for you two!"

"Oh!" Kotori exclaims, looking at the beautiful sunrise as the nine of us ended up standing side by side, looking at the sun rising behind the ocean. Nozomi is standing on my left while Eli is on my right… Honoka grabs Kotori's and Umi's hand, then the other girls do the same. Eli and Nozomi grab my hands as we all just stand there. I feel an overwhelming happiness, I couldn't stop myself from smiling widely… That's when I thought…

"Hey, Eli…" I say, feeling my cheeks burning because of my words. I look back to Nozomi for support and she smiles at me. I look at Eli again. "Thank you." I voice with honesty to the blond girl, _I hope she knows what I meant._ She smiles too.

"Harasho!" Eli voices and winks at me. I smile once again as all of us stay looking at the sun slowly rising. _They are my friends. All of them._ That's what I finally admit to myself. We are more than a club or a school idol group… _we are friends, I care about them, we care about each other. I can finally admit that_. I treasured this moment in my head, the moment were I finally accepted my feelings to myself. _Of course, I'm not telling them any of this… my friends._

"Alright! Let's do our best today!" Honoka shouts with excitement.

 _..._

That's what we did. After we finished breakfast we had one of our best school idol practices, from singing to dancing. It was intense but we were all really proud, our improvement was evident. When we finished lunch all the girls decided to spend the rest of the evening having fun, since we will be returning home tomorrow after all. I decide to sit at my lounge, ready to read a bit more. _I'll join the girls later…_ not wanting to miss having fun with them, even though I'll never admit that.

"Can I sit too?" I turn around and it's Nozomi, standing next to the other lounge.

"Sure." I answer simply as the girl lies down. I keep reading my book… after I finished this chapter I look towards Nozomi. _Huh?! Is she sleeping already?_ I sigh… _She's so hopeless._

"Huh?" I turn to my right and its Eli, she has a volleyball ball. "Is she seriously sleeping?" Eli asks me and sighs. I was about to answer her question but…

"I was just resting my eyes." Nozomi says to our surprise.

"Then let's go play some volleyball, the other girls are ready!" Eli says excited as Nozomi stands up. I look around, the others are already on the volleyball court.

"We won't take a no for an answer!" Nozomi says grabbing my arm and pulling me.

"W-What?" Knowing there's no use to resist so I leave my book on the lounge. The three of us walk towards the volleyball court. "Y-you can let go off my arm!" I say embarrassed to Nozomi as the two third years smile at me. We get to the court and the other girls grin at us.

"I'll be the referee then!" Kotori says excited, walking to the referee chair.

"Well, since Elicchi is so good at volleyball..." Nozomi says making the blonde blush a bit. "Nicocchi, Maki-chan and I will team with her." The purple head says smiling.

"Wait, are you implying that we are bad players?" I ask Nozomi, my competitive side showing.

"Nico Nico-nii is the best player ever, Nozomi!" The third year giggles.

"You three don't seem like knowing how to play nya!" Rin says mockingly from the other side, making me give her a challenging look.

"Rin, Umi, Hanayo... let's kick some butts!" Honoka exclaims teasing at us. _That's it!_

"Bring it on, you losers!" Nico yells at them.

"Fine, then. Game on!" Eli says with a challenging look too, I smile. _There's no way we are going to lose._ Nozomi seems to be having fun at the situation, while Hanayo looks terrified. The team members go to their respective spots, ready for the game.

"O-okay, ready, set-" Kotori starts saying but Rin just plays the ball.

The game starts… we notice immediately that Nico and Honoka try their best but… they are not really good at it. Hanayo just stands there, but Rin covers for her without problem, on the other hand…

"Ohm…" Nozomi… well, she's just aiming her hands towards the ball, like trying to use some mental control. I sigh as Eli runs to cover for Nico. Umi runs to save a ball Honoka almost lost. I run to cover for Nozomi, I guess this is how the game will work. Umi and Rin versus Eli and me. The four of us do our best, getting really heated by the competition. The match goes on until we are tied… The four of us try to catch our breath.

"I-it's the last point…" Kotori decides nervously, probably because the game is taking forever and Umi really wants to win. I look at Eli instinctively and she nods at me, ready to take the game.

Umi serves and Eli is barely able to get to the ball, I'm able to take the second hit, making Rin run to Hanayo… Rin gets to the ball too, and gives it to Umi who delivers Rin a great ball to hit… Eli has to run once again to get it.

"Maki!" She screams, passing me the ball. I already know what to do.

"Eli!" I voice to her as the blonde runs to the net, I set the ball for her to hit, and that's what she does! Eli's hit goes close to the line… Umi and Rin run as fast as they can to get it but…it hits the sand! We won!

"The match is over!" Kotori says happily, she was probably worried because of the heated game. I look at Eli, the both of us catching our breath. She puts her hand up towards me and I give her a high five.

"Umi-chan, how where you unable to get it?" Honoka says half crying because the defeat.

"H-Honoka! You…" Umi responds to the other second year.

"Ha! You just weren't good enough to defeat my Nico Nico-nii lucky charm!" Nico says mockingly and laughing.

"Kayo-chin!" Rin says looking for comfort.

"Huh? Is it over?" Nozomi wakes up from her… spell? While Kotori tries to stop Umi's and Honoka's arguing. I sigh.

"These girls…" Eli says smiling to all of them.

"They are a mess." I joke with Eli and we laugh.

"I-it's time to go back and have some dinner, right?" Kotori says nervously.

"The losers clean the dishes!" Nico yells, running to the house. Rin follows Nico, wanting to win the race at least. Honoka, Kotori and Hanayo follow them. Umi sighs as the rest of us start walking towards the house. I'm walking next to Eli, with Umi and Nozomi in front of us.

"How are you so good at, like… everything?" I ask the blond girl, who gets embarrassed at the question. I blush too, maybe it was too much flattering.

"What? Y-you were really good too!" She responds.

"N-Not at all… I mean, Nozomi was way better." I say jokingly.

"I heard that, Maki-chan!" Nozomi says as Umi and her turn around. The four of us laugh. "You two needed my magic charm to win."

"Sure, sure." Eli says sarcastically.

"Then that's cheating, Nozomi!" Umi says to the third year, Umi doesn't like losing. We all giggle.

 _..._

We had dinner as fast as we could, all of us were starving. We went to the living room after we took our bath, the girls were chatting with joy.

"Fireworks today, right nya?" Rin says exited, resting her head in Hanayo's lap.

"Sheesh, I told you there's no fireworks here, Rin!" I say crossing my arms.

"But Maki-chan, it's our last night! We need to make something special." Honoka exclaims.

"Why we don't make a bonfire?" Kotori presents her idea, to Honoka's happiness.

"There's a place to make the bonfire outside, right Maki-chan?" Hanayo asks me softly.

"And we can make some s'mores!" Nozomi says with a smile.

"Huh? What are those, Nozomi?" Umi asks intrigued.

"They are like a sandwich made of cookies, marshmallows and chocolate." Nozomi answers and I notice Eli flinched when she heard the word chocolate.

"Harasho!" Eli voices. Then the nine girls keep staring at me…

"I, uhm…" I look at them one by one, Eli looks at me with puppy eyes. I sigh with defeat. "Ugh, fine then…"

"Yay!" they all yell with excitement.

"But we will need some wood, and sand… and get the cookies, marshmallows and-"

"Okay!" Eli interrupts me, she seems ready to delegate some work. "Honoka, get the wood that's outside the house." Honoka nods with excitement, stands up and runs outside.

"I-I better help her." Umi says a bit worried as she and Kotori follow the other second year student.

"Hanayo, Rin" Eli says as Rin jumps up and down from excitement. "Go get the chairs in the other room." Rin grabs Hanayo and pulls her.

"Ugh, you're so bossy!" Nico voices towards the blonde.

"Nicocchi and I will get some plates and beverages." Nico snorts, making Nozomi look at her with evil eyes. "Don't make me grope you, Nicochi!" Nico jumps scared and runs to the kitchen, Nozomi follows her. Eli sighs as I start walking to the door.

"I'll go get the stuff we need at the store-"

"Wait! I'll go with you, it's late already." Eli says following me.

"You don't need to-"

"I'm your senior, I'm not letting you go alone." She says as we take a step in the street. I sigh.

"You are such a stubborn…" I say frustrated as she smiles at me. "and I thought there were 'no juniors and seniors' in this trip'?" I ask with a smirk.

"Look who's talking, it took you a lot to forget about the senpai." She says jokingly and giggles, I do the same. "Besides, I'm just going with you in case you forget the chocolate…" She voices and I notice she's trying to hide her excitement.

"Who would have thought…? Ayase Eli, the child who can't stop smiling at the thought of chocolate." I say teasingly making the blonde get red.

"I-I'm not ashamed of liking chocolate!" She says crossing her arms. "Stop teasing me." She says like she's scolding me.

"You don't _like_ chocolate, you _love_ it!" I keep making fun of her as I laugh.

"Ugh, maybe as much as you love tomatoes…" I look at her, surprised. "Or stargazing…" She says with a smirk and I blush. "aaand, you are blushed."

"Ugh, fine! Stop. No more teasing." I say looking away as Eli laughs.

"Deal." She says as we get to the store.

...

We got all we needed… and maybe more chocolate than we should, but 'just in case!' Eli said, which made me laugh of course. Now we are heading back to the house.

"So… what did Nozomi told you yesterday?" I look surprised at her. "I-I mean, she really made you loosen up…"

"I thought we had a deal… no teasing." I say looking away.

"I-I'm just asking…" She says with a nervous giggle.

"She just talked about weird stuff, as always." I answer her. _Why Eli seems worried?_

"I-I see. She does that sometimes, right?" She says simply as we enter once again to the house. No one is at the living room this time so we go to the yard, they are all sitting around the bonfire place. All the girls did what Eli said, or _what the leader said._

"Okay, let's get the fire going-" I say grabbing the matches.

"No, I will make the fire." Eli cuts me off with a stubborn tone.

"What? No. I'm the one who knows how to-"

"I know how to do it-"

"But it's dangerous-"

"Maki seems worried about Eli-chan, nya!" Rin says with a smirk.

"I'm the older one so I will do it." Eli says giving me a serious look, extending her palm so I give her the matches. I glance at Rin who seems ready to tease me once again.

"Fine. You're such a… Whatever…" I inflate my cheeks with frustration as I give her the matches. The blonde smiles at me. I sit down in one of the empty chairs, with Rin at my left. I cross my arms as I look closely to Eli's moves. _The last thing I want is someone getting burn!_ I thought to myself… but Eli managed to light up the fire without problems, the other girls look amused at the fire as Eli sits on the only empty chair, next to mine.

"See?" Eli says to me. "You didn't had to be so stubborn-"

"I was? You were!" I voice cutting her off.

"Fine, fine… I was a bit stubborn too." I look at her, and we couldn't stop a giggle because of the silliness. I take the marshmallow out of the fire, then I grab the cookies and chocolate to make a s'more. "Harasho!" Eli exclaims impressed.

"Huh?" I look at Eli, she's looking mesmerized at my hand. I giggle. "Here." I lend the s'more to her. "You never had any?" She shakes her head and takes the s'more shyly, _she is such a child!_ She takes a bite and smiles.

"It's delicious!" I smile at the older girl excitement. _So hopeless…_ Nozomi looks at Eli and smiles, then she proceeds to explain the other girls how to make a s'more. Eli follows Nozomi's steps closely.

"It's so good, nya!" Rin exclaims.

"It must had something to do with Nozomi's magic… a magical sandwich!" Honoka voices, looking at the third year girl.

"Here." _Huh?_ I turn around to face Eli, she's lending me the s'more she just made. "I-I'm sure mine tastes better than yours." She blushes a bit and I smile at the challenge.

"Ha! I highly doubt it." I say taking a bite… "Not bad, I will admit." The both of us giggle.

"Where did you learn that?" Eli asks intrigued as she takes another bite of her second s'more. "I know Nozomi knows because she's been everywhere…"

"Well, I went to a camp in the US when I was a kid." I answer her as I take another bite.

"Ah! That sounds-"

"Harasho?" I say jokingly, making the blonde laugh.

"Exactly." she voices and we laugh.

All of us keep chatting there until the fire stopped… Then everyone started to get sleepy, practice was intense today after all. Honoka and Rin fell asleep almost instantly while the rest of us cleaned everything up.

"We shouldn't spoil them!" Umi said but she didn't tried to wake the two girls up.

 _..._

When we had everything ready all the other girls fell asleep rather quickly. I was tired but I still decided to stand up. _I can't believe I still haven't even finished this book_ … I thought to myself, sitting at my usual spot.

"Maki." I knew who it was without looking. "Again?" she yawns and sits in front of me, hugging her knees.

"I just want to finish this chapter." I yawn too and Eli giggles.

"Fine, just this chapter." She looks up and I roll my eyes. "The stars are not as bright as yesterday…" She notices looking up, making me do the same. _She is right,_ I realized it too. "Maybe they are saying goodbye." I giggle.

"If you say so." I can't stop noticing she has a very nostalgic expression. "Uhm... It's been a while since you saw your grandmother?" I dare to ask and I think I guessed right. I'm glad Eli doesn't seem uncomfortable by my question, _maybe that was too personal, I shouldn't have asked_.

"Uhm, yeah… a bit." She says with a sad smile. "I'll go see her in December, though... at least that is what I hope." She says with a genuine smile, I smile back to her.

"I'm glad, then." I say simply as I awkwardly take my eyes back to the book, while Eli just keeps watching me. We stay there in silence, as I keep reading in the blonde's company. When I finish the chapter I look up to her, which surprises her a little, she seemed lost in her own thoughts. "I still don't get it… and there's only 5 chapters left!" She grins at my frustration.

"I won't tell you a thing." She says and yawns again, making me yawn too.

"Stop yawning, you're making me do the same!" We giggle.

"I guess we are just tired-"

"I-I'm not!" I said, not wanting to admit I was. "Maybe just a bit…" she laughs.

"I wanted to watch the stars but…" She says looking up.

"Yeah… me too."

"I guess they do are saying goodbye to us." I look at Eli and I giggle at her weird comment once again.

"I guess so." I say as she stands up and gives me her hand to help me stand up. I hesitate but I grab her hand.

"We should go back to bed, we have not been sleeping a lot these last days." I was about to say something. "I'm not telling you what to do." She says with a giggle.

"I wasn't going to say that!" I say blushed, she giggles once again and bumps my shoulder with hers.

"Goodnight, Maki" She says getting to her futon as I get to mine.

"Goodnight, Eli." I whisper and the two of us fell asleep rather quickly.

—

I open my eyes because of the light … I rub my face, making myself wake up. _Uhm, I guess is a new day…_ I thought to myself, looking around.

"Ah!?" I exclaim with surprise… The only one sleeping is Eli. Not even Honoka is here! I feel the embarrassment already, I look at Eli sleeping soundly with her legs uncovered. I cover them without thinking and I blush at my own gesture. I hear the others voices coming from the kitchen. I gulp, _I can't believe we were the last ones to wake up! So embarrassing…_

"G-good morning." I muttered, entering to the kitchen. Nozomi and Nico are cooking while the other girls chat at the table.

"Mornin', Maki-chan!" Honoka says happily.

"Good morning! Elicchi is not up yet? I was about to wake the two of you." Nozomi says with a smirk as I curl my hair, I blush at the thought of Nozomi having to wake me up.

"Who would have thought Maki-chan and Eli-chan were such a sleepy heads nya!" Rin says as the other girls laugh which makes my face get redder.

"W-we are not like that!" I try to defend ourselves.

"Either way… you should wake up Elicchi, Maki-chan. Breakfast is almost ready." I nod and leave the kitchen. _Anything to stop them from mocking me_ , I thought to myself as I entered to the living room. I look at Eli… she's still sleeping soundly. I sigh but I can't stop a soft smile from appearing. I crunch in front of her…

"Eli, wake up." I whisper with no response. "Eli…" I shake her shoulder. Nothing. "Eli, Eli, Eli" I repeat as I poke her cheek. She moves a bit.

"Huh?" She opens her eyes and looks at me. "Maki." I smile at the sleepy face she has. "Let me sleep." And she hides her face in her pillow. I giggle silently as I roll my eyes.

"Eli, we were the last ones to wake up…" That makes her jump with surprise. _I knew that would work._

"W-why didn't you woke me up earlier?!" she says with embarrassment.

"I-I told you I just woke up too!" I say with the same embarrassment as her, she stands up and I do the same.

"It's so embarrassing…" She says simply, walking to the kitchen as she slaps her cheeks softly, I follow her lead.

"Oh! The two sleepy heads." Nozomi says with a smile, noticing our presence.

"W-we are not-"

"Maki already tried to deny it, sheesh." Nico says and the other girls laugh. Eli's cheeks and mine get redder simultaneously.

"T-this is worse than I thought…" Eli whispers to me.

"You two should get dressed already, then we'll have breakfast." Umi says as I notice… they are all dressed! I leave the kitchen in a rush, Eli does the same as we both sigh with defeat. We walk upstairs, Eli enters to her room as I walk to mine. I finish getting dressed and I start packing everything up as fast as I can.

"Uhm, Maki… have you seen my hair tie?" I turn around, it's Eli standing outside my room, she's dressed but she doesn't have her usual ponytail.

"Huh? You can't find it?" I ask her, closing my bag. "I finished packing, I'll help you find it." She smiles at me and the both of us walk to the third year's room. It seems like Nozomi and Nico have her stuff downstairs already.

"I hate when I lose them…" She comments as she peeks down the bed. I peek inside the bathroom… nothing. I grab the doorknob to close the door and I feel…

"Huh?" Eli's hair tie was at the doorknob, I take it out of it. "It's here, Eli." I say as the older one stands up.

"Thank you! I wonder what it was doing there…" She muttered as she grabs the hair tie and puts it in her mouth, then she starts preparing her hair for the ponytail. I blush at Eli for some unknown reason, I start curling my hair in front of the blonde.

"Uhm… what are you two doing here, _together_?" I hear Nozomi's voice, she is looking at us from the door with a sly smile.

"W-we were looking for-"

"Sure, sure…" Nozomi says dismissing my words and leaves.

"Ugh, Nozomi!" Eli says with frustration.

"I-I'll go get my bag downstairs." I say walking out of the room. _Nozomi always has to make everything embarrassing, ugh…_

"Yeah, I'll do the same." I hear Eli saying.

We walk downstairs, it seems like the other girls already ate so they were gathering the futons and sheets. Well, except for Rin and Honoka, who were napping on the sofa.

"You guys wake up!" Umi yells to them with no response. "Maki, Eli, go eat… we are already off schedule! Eli I would never thought you would betray me like this…" The second year student says dramatically.

"Sorry, sorry." The blonde answer, putting her hands up in surrender. We enter to the kitchen and we eat our food quickly, Eli grabs my dishes to wash them.

"Eli, I can do it myself!" I complain to her but she ignores me, I sigh.

After we had everything ready we got to the train station as fast as we could. When we were there, Honoka noticed she forgot her bag, Umi scolded her as the two of them went back to the house. It took us a while and Umi's schedule was already destroyed, but we were finally at the train back home. I'm sitting next to Nico while Nozomi and Eli are sitting in front of us. Nozomi and Nico fell asleep looking outside the window, I look at Eli and she fell asleep, resting her head on her own shoulder. I giggle silently. _She looks so adorable…_ I thought and I jumped in surprise because of my own thought. I blushed. _Maki, don't say things like that!_ I shake my head as I returned my eyes to the printed words.

* * *

 **(I feel like I need to re-review the chapter but my brain is dead now and i just want to post it...)**

 **I hope I did a decent job in the way Maki realizes the Muse's are her friends... Maki's mind follows the slow paced flow very well haha. Any tips and questions (yes, i can answer some of them) are welcome! A little spoiler that is not a spoiler: yes, romance will come but it will take time...**


	4. Chapter 4 - Stamping

**Thank you all who review/follow/read the fanfic. I appreciate it a lot! :D**

* * *

 **Stamping**

It's been a week since our summer trip. We are working hard and our rank is slowly going up and up. We are so close to the top 20, we've gained a lot of exposure thanks to our videos. I still like to spend my lunch time at the library, at least when I'm able to escape from Hanayo and Rin. To get to the library I always pass in front of the student council office, Eli and Nozomi are there, chatting and eating like every day at lunch time. _Sheesh,_ I look at them with a smile. Nozomi looks up, I jumped with surprise and walked quickly trying to stay out of-

"Maki-chan!" Nozomi yelled, I was too slow. "Spying on us and not saying hello?" I blushed and looked away as Eli appeared behind the spiritual girl. Eli seems to notice I have my lunch and a book on my hand.

"Want to join us? We were also eating our-"

"N-No! I have something to do" I ran away towards the small empty room next to the library, this is where I eat most of the time, before going to the library. I sighed with relief as I closed the door behind me.

—

The next day I'm walking past the student council office once again… but this time Nozomi was apparently waiting for me.

"I'll catch you this time!" She quickly runs towards me.

"W-what!?" I start running away… until she hugs me from behind. "W-what's wrong with you!?"

"You're eating with us today" she answered simply as I kept trying to get her hands off me. _At least she is not grabbing my-_ "Don't make me grope you!" the third year starts pulling me inside their office, I see Eli standing there with a smile on her face.

"Ugh, Nozomi! Let me go!" I complain as she lets me go, she has a victorious smile as I proceed to fix my clothes. "Why do I have to-"

"Come on, Maki. Don't be rude." Eli says calmly as she sits down, I inflate my cheeks with frustration as Nozomi sits next to Eli.

"You two are such a bother…" I gave up, sitting next to Nozomi.

"Okay! Time to eat" Nozomi exclaims with excitement as she starts doing a prayer. I roll my eyes, then we start eating. "So, where did you hide yesterday, I wonder?" I grinned.

"You don't need to know everything, Nozomi" Eli says giggling silently.

"What? Your cards can't tell you that? I guess you're losing your touch…" I said teasingly, Nozomi gave me a challenging look in return.

"Maki-chan, be careful with that mouth of yours!" Nozomi said pointing at me with one of her cards.

"Or what?" I said with another smirk as we finished our food, Nozomi was ready to talk back. But Eli decided the best thing was to change the subject.

"So… have you finished the-"

"No, I haven't… No spoilers, please" I said as I knew what the blonde was going to ask, she smiled.

"No spoilers" She said simply, Nozomi seemed a bit confused.

"Huh? What-"

"I-It's about a book" Nozomi gave me a weird grin. "And I would have finished it if you two-"

"Sure, sure. 'a book'…" Nozomi repeated as she shook her head, I sighed.

"You two shouldn't be working anyway?" I asked harshly as I looked at the pile of papers next to Eli.

"We take our break seriously" Nozomi answered as she was ready to play with her cards. Eli was looking at the pile of papers, like measuring how many they were.

"Actually, we should finish-"

"Maki-chan, what have you done?" Nozomi exclaimed dramatically, pointing at me with another card… 'Death' it said. I gave her an unamused look. "Now you will have to help us" She said simply as she grabbed one bunch of documents.

"W-what?" Nozomi dropped them in front of me, I looked at Eli, asking for help with my eyes.

"Those papers only need to be stamped" The blonde winked at me, I gave the two third years my most serious look.

"This was your plan all along, right?" I asked Nozomi while she grinned.

"Don't worry! We can chat while you're at it" I was about to complain once again. "I just need to sort some documents, Eli is the one that needs to write" Eli smiled and grabbed her pencil, Nozomi gave me the rubber stamp "What? Is it too much work for you?" Nozomi teased once again, I sighed with defeat.

"Ugh, fine… but don't expect me to come here again though!" I said as I stamped the first paper, Eli giggled.

"Ohm…" I look to Nozomi, she has her eyes closed, pointing at me with one of her hands. _A spell?_ I snorted. "Done" She said with a smile and returned her focus to the work, like nothing happened. Eli just laughed. "I put a location charm on you, you can thank me later." I rolled my eyes as I keep stamping the documents in front of me.

"Ugh, seriously, Nozomi?" I asked the third year.

"I wouldn't argue with Nozomi and her spells, Maki…" Eli said giggling, I sighed once again.

"It's a charm, not a spell, Elicchi" Nozomi corrected her and we couldn't stop a giggle. _This girl takes her magic too seriously…_

"You two are so hopeless…" I said as we continued our work, _or their work,_ for a bit as we talked about today practice. I heard the ring that indicates the start of the classes, I look up but the two third years where still working. "Huh? I-It's time to go back to-"

"Ah! We don't have any classes this period" Nozomi answered calmly. "You better run, Maki-chan" I flinched as Eli smiled to me. I jumped from my seat, _I'm never late!_

"Good luck, Maki!" I heard Eli saying as I ran out of their office. _First they make me do their work, now I'm going late because of them, and I am the troublesome? B_ ut I couldn't stop a smile as I entered the classroom just in time.

When we finished our evening practice Hanayo, Rin and I went back to grab our stuff from our classroom. But I couldn't find my book anywhere… I told Rin and Hanayo to go without me as I kept looking, but it was nowhere to be seen… _If it's not here then-_ someone knocks the classroom door, I turn around and is Eli.

"Maki, you forgot your-"

"Ah! So that's where it was" I grab my bag and I walk towards the blonde. "Thank you… even though it was kind of your fault that I forgot it" I say bluntly as Eli giggles.

"You got to your classes on time?" She looks around, there's no one else here. "Where is Rin and Hanayo?"

"Barely…" I answered as I put the book in my bag. "I told them to go without me. Are you done with your president duties?"

"Almost, you were helpful, I should thank you for that." she said with a smile and I blushed… Then I notice Eli seemed pensive. "Are you walking home alone?" She gives me a serious expression.

"Elicchi, you're here" Eli turns around and it's Nozomi, of course. "Oh, Maki-chan… you two really are bonding" She said with a smirk, making Eli sigh.

"Ugh, Nozomi, don't say weird things. Anyway…" Eli turns around to look at me, those blue eyes of her made me nervous for some reason. "We will finish in one hour tops, I don't think you should walk alone-"

"I'll be fine" I cut her off as I try to walk past them, _I'm not a baby, she shouldn't worry._ But Eli gets in my way challenging me with her eyes. "Seriously?" I mutter as I hear Nozomi's laugh. Knowing Eli, she will not let me go alone. "Ugh, fine… why are you so stubborn?" She smiles like she is proud of it. "But I'll be in the music room!" I wanted to keep working in a song anyway…

"Deal" She said with a nod like she just won a negotiation.

"We will look for you when we are done" Nozomi said with a smile. The three of us walked down the hallway, they entered in their office and I kept walking to the music room. I smiled as I looked to the piano waiting for me.

I got really inspired, I even composed a bit and my music notebook was full of writing. I played the half-finished song one last time… _it sounds good,_ I thought to myself. _I wonder if they are ready, it's been an hour..._ I grab my stuff as I decide to check on them, I walk out of the music room and as I turned around the corner… I bumped into someone that was resting with her back against the wall. It was Eli, with Nozomi next to her.

"Ah! Maki-chan, we just got here" Nozomi says calmly as I give the two third years a serious expression.

"Y-yeah! We totally did!" Eli giggled nervously. _Ok, I almost believed Nozomi, but Eli is obviously lying… they were spying on me!_ I close my eyes as I walk past them. They follow me silently.

"You two where listening!" I turn around, surprising the blonde, Nozomi seemed entertained.

"I-It was just for, uhm…" Eli muttered, _I knew it!_

"I think we should get going" Nozomi says and I sigh turning around and walking fast, leading the way again.

"It was just the last song-" Eli tried to explain.

"Whatever!" I cut her off. _First Honoka, now these two... I have no privacy!_ Eli sighs.

"It's your fault for being so good at it, Maki-chan." Nozomi says with a smile.

"Let's not talk about it!" I say with embarrassment.

"W-well… thanks for waiting for us. We finished the pile of documents…" Eli informed, trying to change the subject as we walk out of the building.

"I stamped the ones you gave me right?" I asked, unsure of my work, even though it was something stupid.

"Ah, were you worried?" Nozomi grinned as I looked away. "Yes, I checked them. Just in case you did it wrong on purpose." She giggles.

"I wouldn't do that, Nozomi" I snort as I cross my arms, Eli just giggles.

"Well, here is where I leave you two. I need to go to the shrine" Nozomi walks away as she waves at us. "See you tomorrow, Elichi, Maki-chan" We say goodbye to her and then we keep walking.

"So… where do you live?" I ask as I notice Eli keeps walking in the same direction as mine.

"Ah, you don't know? Actually, I live a couple of blocks before you. Some apartments before the large wealthy-"

"I-I know where that is!" I cut her off when I hear the word 'wealthy'.

"S-sorry, you don't like when people talk like that?"

"I just don't like that… weird treatment." I start to curl my hair, she giggles.

"Noticed. So… you should finish that book already, I want to-"

"I wanted to finish it, but you made me stamp some papers on my free time…" I look serious at her as she giggles, I giggle too. We were close to where her apartment should be.

"Onee-chan!" _w-what?_ I notice a blonde girl running to us… she suddenly hugs Eli. _Onee-chan?_

"A-Arisa, you are here." Eli blushes a bit as the smaller girl separates from her. "This is Nishikino Ma-"

"I know!" Arisa says with excitement as I blink with surprise. "I'm so glad to finally meet you, Nishikino Maki-san, I'm Ayase Arisa" I blush, _why she seems so excited to meet me?_

"She is my little sister" Eli explains smiling.

"N-nice to meet you." I answer shyly. "Y-yeah, I noticed"

"You are Muse's composer!" Arisa points out passionately as I blush even more. "My sister told me you play the piano amazingly-"

"A-Arisa!" Eli tries to stop her as the older one seems embarrassed too.

"I-It's not like I'm that good…" I curl my hair, looking away.

"Arisa, why don't you go ahead?" Eli says smiling, the little sister nods.

"It was nice to meet you, Nishikino-san!" Arisa says politely and walks to the building entrance that is a couple of steps ahead. Eli has her eyes on her little sister until she disappears, the blonde sighs.

"S-sorry… she gets way too excited about everything Muse's related…" Eli says looking at me.

"Y-yeah, I noticed. She looks a lot like you." I curl my hair awkwardly as Eli smiles. "Well, know I know where you live"

"Huh? You sound like a potential assassin" Eli's comment made us giggle.

"I don't get my hands dirty, I just point out the next target" we laugh. I realize it must be late so I check my clock. "Ah! I-its late… I really need to go. Bye, Eli" The older one seems surprised because of my sudden rush.

"B-bye" She managed to say before I ran away. _I need to get to the hospital as soon as possible…_ I guess I got too distracted.

—

Today we found out that our rank went up, we are number 19! High enough to participate in the Love Live, but now we needed to work even harder. I spend some days helping out Eli and Nozomi in the student council room… not because I wanted to, it's just that they could use some help… right? Today I was heading there directly, I finished the book so I needed to rant about it with certain someone. I peek inside the office, Eli is the only one here, she is writing.

"Maki, hi" She says smiling as I entered the office, I sat next to her.

"I finished the book… I don't get it! The whole plot seems pointless now!" Eli giggled.

"I told you. It was incredibly annoying… I haven't even started the sequel because of it" I nodded.

"Well, I have the sequel already… but I'm not really motivated to read it now"

"Well, this is your turn to read it first and tell me if it's worth it"

"Sure, but I will not give you any spoilers!" we laugh. "I want to know what happened, though-"

"Oh, you two talk this much when I'm not around?" Nozomi says entering the room. "And you two were waiting for me to eat? Cute." We blush.

"I-It wasn't like that!" I quickly deny as Nozomi sits down.

"Nozomi…" Eli mutters as Nozomi starts eating calmly, we sigh simultaneously and follow her lead. I was hungry anyway.

"I saved some papers for you to stamp, Maki-chan" Nozomi comments while we eat, I roll my eyes.

"Ugh, you are the one who gives me work every time I come here!" I sigh with frustration, even though I actually like to help them. B _ut they don't need to know that, right?  
_

"That's because Eli is the one who spoils you" Nozomi says teasingly, making me choke.

"N-Nozomi! Don't say weird stuff like that… I don't spoil Maki" Eli says as she gives me a couple of back blows, Nozomi laughs.

"Its okay, Maki-chan will still come back here from time to time" Eli sighs.

"I really hate you sometimes, Nozomi…" I mutter when I was able to compose myself.

"Maki-chan! Don't say that kind of words, they give bad vibes!" Nozomi scolds me as Eli giggles, I do too.

"It was a joke-"

"Bad vibes" Nozomi repeats cutting me off with her palm up. I roll my eyes and look at Eli, we laugh once again.

After I helped the two third years and we finished our class period it was our practice time, and we definitely needed to work harder now that our rank was 19. The competition is just starting… We were in our club room when Eli told us we needed to participate in a lottery to be able to use the auditorium in the next school festival. The club president are the ones who participate in the raffle, but we were there too to watch. _Why the calligraphy club needs the auditorium anyway?!_ It was Nico's turn.

"Nico-chan, you can do it!" Honoka said as Nico walked towards the tombola with a fierce look. The situation was really dramatic, or at least the other girls made it that way. As Nico started to roll the tombola Rin and Hanayo hugged me harder, everything started to move in slow motion… Nozomi was praying as the rest of us were focused on the small ball coming out of the… _No! It was white!_ We all fell to the floor, defeated… well, actually Rin and Hanayo fell, dragging me with them as they were still hugging me.

"What are we going to do?" Honoka yelled when we were on the roof. _No auditorium for us..._

"Why we had to lose?" Hanayo was crying… everyone seemed hopeless.

"I saw it coming…" I carelessly said, curling my hair.

"Nicocchi… I trusted you" Nozomi said dramatically.

"Shut up! I'm sorry!" Nico exclaimed in defeat.

"We need to change our attitude" El said, _finally! She needs to calm them down._ "We just need to find another place to perform." After a couple of bad ideas like the club room and the hallway…

"What about here?" Honoka said excited, we looked at her with surprise. "We can build a stage here! A lot of people will fit!" _I guess the idea is not that bad…_ "Let's sing harder enough to make people come here!" Honoka's excitement seemed contagious, Eli giggled.

"It's decided, we will have our next concert here!" Eli said, cheering everyone up.

—

The next day I decided to spend my free time before practice in the music room, I needed to polish the song… after I finished playing it for a hundred time, I looked at my handwriting in my music booklet. _I guess it sounds decent._ I smiled… then I heard a familiar sound, quick claps… I look up. It was Honoka, I blushed as she entered the room.

"Maki-chan that was amazing!" I curled my hair.

"It's not that-"

"It is! We are going to perform it at our concert, it's decided!" My eyes blinked with surprise.

"H-Honoka… it's not even finished-"

"But it's good, Maki-chan! I know we can do it! Can you record it? I loved the energy…" I looked at the girl next to me, her excitement was evident… I sighed.

"F-fine, I-"

"Greaaat!" She said grabbing my hand. "We will tell them about it tomorrow, I can't wait!" I couldn't stop a smile… _She is so determined, maybe too much...  
_

—

"A new song?" Eli muttered, we were sitting at our club table, everyone looked surprised to Honoka.

"I listened to Maki-chan's new song yesterday, and it was great!" I look away, closing my eyes as I blushed. "I think we should start our concert with this song!" Eli seemed hesitant.

"But we will need to work on the song and the choreography… I don't know if we can make it in time." Eli said, _maybe Honoka is pushing too hard…_

"And we have to review the other songs too…" Umi said with worry.

"We need to work the hardest for this concert! We need to make it a Muse's compilation and I'm sure we will secure our spot at the Love Live! On only that but we could save the school too!" Honoka was decided, and _no one is going to stop her now._ I smiled at her…

"You do have a point" Nozomi said with a smile as Honoka stands up with inspiration.

"I want to do everything I can! I know we can do it! What do you guys think?" Honoka glanced towards Eli, she needed the older girl approval. Eli smiled.

"Anyone opposed?" Eli said, no one said a word. "You heard them" the blonde said smiling at Honoka. "But we will have to work even harder, specially you, Honoka"

"Yes I will!" Honoka said, she sounded even more determined than before.

After we finished our intense practice I decided to fix the last touches of the song in the music room as Eli and Nozomi had some student council work to do. When we were done the three of us walked outside the school.

"How is the song doing?" Nozomi asked me.

"She is great, thank you" I joked as the three of us laughed. "I just finished it, I'll have the recording ready for tomorrow"

"You always work hard, Maki" Eli said with gratefulness, making me blush. Then we just kept walking, I felt like something was off, which was weird… I was very used to being around them by now but they seem like they wanted to say somethin. "So, uhm…" I quickly glanced towards Eli. I was expecting her to talk sooner or later. "Haven't you noticed something weird at our practices?" _huh?_ The question surprised me, I looked to Nozomi and she was waiting for my response. But I had no idea what was happening.

"Especially regarding the second years?" Nozomi insisted.

"N-No… why?" I asked, I was definitely confused by now.

"Maybe it's nothing" Eli says shaking her hand, dismissing her worry. "Right, Nozomi?"

"Yeah…" She just says with a calm smile before saying goodbye to us as she walked in the shrine direction. Nozomi was definitely worried...

"What was all that?" I asked as I walked next to Eli, I needed some answers.

"I-Its nothing, don't worry about it" I keep looking serious at her as she laughs nervously.

"Maybe I can't tell what's going on with the second years… but I can tell something is up with you two" I was ready to insist until she spit it out, and she seemed to know that so she sighed with defeat.

"It's just… ugh, fine" I smile. "Don't you think Kotori and Umi are acting weird?" I flinched… _what does 'weird' mean exactly?_

"What… do you mean, like-" _like together?_ I flush because of the thought.

"N-no! Not like that!"

"Oh…" I sighed with relief as we giggled.

"Just like, something is up… Kotori seems a little depressed" Eli said pensively.

"But Honoka-"

"Yeah, Honoka seems normal" We keep walking, thinking about the situation.

"Maybe she had to quit her job? She is not leaving in a rush anymore…" I noticed after giving it some thought.

"Uhm, that's actually a good guess. It could be it, I hope is just that" We just arrived to Eli's building entrance. I look at my clock.

"I-It's late-"

"Are you working as a maid too?" I blinked with surprise as Eli just looked at me.

"W-what?" I laughed out loud, _me? A maid?_ Eli giggled nervously

"I-It was a joke… but, I mean, you leave in a rush sometimes too…" She says looking at me, I look away curling my hair. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, I was just-"

"N-no… its fine" I sigh. "I kind of help somewhere else at night"

"Huh?" Eli seemed even more confused. _Maybe that didn't sound right…_

"I-I… Fine, I'll tell you" I blushed, I don't like people to know this kind of stuff, but it's just Eli after all. "I help a couple of hours sometimes at my parent's hospital"

"Ah!" That made sense for her. "So that's it!" she said smiling.

"But don't tell anyone, only Hanayo and Rin know" Eli giggles nervously.

"Don't worry. Sheesh, you work too hard, Maki" She gives me a tender smile. "Is it weird that I feel proud of you?" I blush instantly.

"D-don't say things like that, Eli! Sheesh." I look away. "I-it's not a big deal, really. I know it sounds cool and all but it's not like I do much. Just... paperwork." Eli smiles.

"Sure, sure… Well, I don't want to waste your time, I'm sure your patients are waiting for you-" Eli says jokingly.

"Eli!" I say scolding her, still embarrassed.

"I was joking" She gives me another smile. "Good luck at the hospital, then. I'll see you tomorrow"

"T-thank you. Bye" I answer shyly as I start to walk away.

"And make sure you rest!" I roll my eyes before turning around.

"You worry too much!" I say in response and she smiles. I keep walking away, when I'm some steps away I look over my shoulder. Eli was standing there, looking out for me, I guess… I keep walking with a smile that made my cheeks burn. _She definitely worries too much._

* * *

 **Hope you liked the chapter Note: sorry if the — breaks seem a bit awkward, for some weird reason i can't make a single line break? oh well haha. Also, I now my chapter titles are like... really bad? But i just can't think of anything better haha. In other news, I hope you're having** **a great day!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Reminder

**If you are reading this, thanks for the support :3 and good luck to everyone participating in the love live sif events! I love the Eli SR!**

* * *

 **Reminder**

I walked towards the student council office. I didn't had a reason, maybe I just liked to spend time with Nozomi and Eli, _it's not like I enjoy stamping some papers on my free time_. I also wanted to ask them about Kotori… After what Eli told me, I started to notice that something wasn't right, but I couldn't figure what it was _._ I peek inside the office, Eli is here… I giggle silently, _her focused expression is so funny._ I take a step in, making the blonde look up.

"Maki, how are you?" she says with a smile and moves her papers away.

"I'm good… I-I was just hungry, so I thought we should eat?" I thought I needed explain the reason I was here, _but that sounded pathetic, Maki._ I start to curl my hair as Eli just smiles.

"Yeah, now that you talk about it I'm starving " She says taking her lunch out. "If you didn't came here I'll probably just kept working…" she giggles as I sit next to her.

"That's not good, you shouldn't forget about eating" I look serious at her and she just laughs.

"What? Are you worried about me?" The question makes me blush. "Nozomi is the one in charge of the break time, that's why I forgot about it" She takes a bite of her food.

"I-I'm not…" I sigh, _whatever._ "Where is Nozomi anyway?" I ask bluntly as I start eating my lunch too.

"She is collecting all the club's budget papers" The blonde sighs loudly. "The budget meetings are always so troublesome" I giggle, is weird in a good way to hear Eli speaking so freely, complaining about something.

"I'm sure you can handle it" I say with a smile. "You need any help?" I offer with some embarrassment.

"There's no papers to stamp" Eli giggles and I roll my eyes.

"You know I can do other things, right?"

"Relax, Maki. We are eating… I know you like to help here, stamping papers... but there's none today" She laughs and I can't stop myself from doing the same.

"I don't _like_ to help you, I do it because you two need it!" Eli rolls her eyes dismissing my words and I giggle. "So… have you figured out anything about the second year's situation?"

"Well, apparently Honoka is training at night too" Eli says worryingly. "But I don't know what's going on with the other two…"

"Honoka is working hard. Maybe it's nothing, you know? You two shouldn't worry about it" I say, even though it worries me a bit too.

"Maybe _too_ hard…" Then Eli flinches, like she suddenly remembered something. "By the way, Maki, I really want to thank your parents in the name of the group. I always forget to talk with you about it…" I blink with surprise as Eli seems frustrated with herself.

"W-what do you mean? Thank them for what?" I had my eyes wide open on her.

"For letting us use their summer house, of course" She said simply, with a smile on her face.

"Y-You don't need to thank them! It's not like they like the Muse's anyway!" I muttered but I quickly regretted what I said. _No, I didn't mean it… ah!_ Eli seems a bit shocked.

"W-what… they don't like us?" I look away as I grab my neck, _Maki why are you so stupid…?_ "Maki" Eli says bluntly to make me return my eyes to her. She gives me a serious look, waiting for an answer.

"I-It's not like they don't like us either!" I manage to say, _that's not helping, Maki._ "It just like… uhm…" I look way once again, _great! Just great!_

"Maki? You can talk with me, you know?" Her soft words make me return my eyes to her blue ones. She seems worried about me. "It's something bothering them?"

"N-No… I mean, for now…" I start to curl my hair, faster than usual. Eli keeps her eyes on me.

"For now? Come on, you can tell me. I can be helpful" She says softly once again. We lock our eyes… and I sigh with defeat.

"It's just that… they are going to think is a waste of time, sooner or later" I decide to talk about it with Eli, _It's not like she will let me go without an explanation... and it has to be a good one.  
_

"Why?" The blonde ask simply since I didn't continued talking.

"Why? B-Because I probably have more important things to do… more productive things to do, for my future and all" I gulp, Eli is attentively listening to me. "They think we are just playing around…"

"Have you talked to them about it? I mean, your mom used to go to this school, right? Does she know you are doing your best to keep it open?" I move uncomfortably on my seat as Eli sighs. "Why do I feel like the problem is that you haven't explained that to them?"

"What? I-I don't have anything to explain…" I only told them about the school idol group because we needed the summer house…

"Then maybe you should try to talk to them about it… we are serious about what we are doing and you know it…" Eli says calmly I can still feel her eyes on me.

"I… I shouldn't have…" I stand up, grabbing my stuff. "I have to go" I muttered just before rushing towards the door.

"M-Maki!" Eli exclaims in an attempt to stop me, I can hear the blonde standing up from her chair, but I was faster. I get to my classroom quickly and the ring bell sounds just in time.

—

Today we had another intense practice leaded by Honoka. I was drinking some water, then I could feel certain eyes on me… I knew how blue they were but I just avoided them.

"We should get home already, Hanayo" I told the other first year as I wanted to get to the hospital early this time. Hanayo smiles as Rin grabs her bag and Hanayo's. Being honest, I also wanted to avoid Eli, _I'm sure she has an entire speech for me by now._

"Yeah! Let's go already, I'm busy today!" Nico said loudly, grabbing her bag too. I rolled my eyes.

"But I wanted to practice again! We already refreshed ourselves-"

"Honoka! I think it's enough for today" Umi cut her off, she seemed worried about Honoka. _Honoka definitely needs an off button…_

"Y-Yeah… we can practice tomorrow, Honoka-chan" Kotori says softly as the nine of us start walking downstairs, to Honoka's disappointment.

"Maki…" someone touched my arm. I knew who it was, I turn around as the rest of the girls keep walking.

"Ah… today I have to go early" I muttered, avoiding the blonde's eyes. I'm looking at Nozomi who is just behind Eli. "I have some stuff to do, see you tomorrow. Good luck with the budgets." I say simply, leaving a puzzled Eli behind.

"See you tomorrow, Maki-chan" Nozomi says waving her hand as I ran to catch up with the others.

 ***Eli's POV:**

I keep my eyes on the redhead as she leaves with the others… _Why she has to be so avoidant? I'm just trying to help her!_ I sigh loudly.

"Is everything alright, Elicchi?" Nozomi's words make me snap out of my own thoughts.

"Y-yeah! Let's go check those budgets…" I lead the way back to the office.

"Oh, you sound excited!" Nozomi says with a grin as I giggle, rolling my eyes.

"You know how much I love all the conflicts that come with the budget meetings, Nozomi" I say sarcastically, the only thing we could do was laugh.

"Maybe this time will be different… I'll have to check the cards" Nozomi said pensively as I smiled, _Nozomi and her fortune…_

"I don't know how you can accept so calmly all those club papers… they can be so unreasonable" Nozomi giggles.

"Ah, well, is my job to give the information to you after all." the other third year smiles softly. Suddenly and idea came to my mind.

"Uhm, Nozomi?"

...

 ***Back to Maki's POV:**

I got to the hospital earlier than usual, I had to finish the final recording for the music concert after all. I was using my laptop, listening attentively to the sounds of our songs… there were some things I had to fix. I was wearing my headphones… so maybe it took me a bit to hear my mom was calling for me.

"I'll be there in a second!" _I just want to finish this one…_ It took me a couple of minutes before I opened my door… that's when I hear… _Is that? That's… that's definitely her voice!_ I start to run down the hallway.

"So you were the student council president too, Miss Nishikino?" _Eli! What is she…?_

"Oh, yes! It was hard work, but it was very enjoyable too" I ran downstairs, I almost fell.

"I have to agree-"

"E-Eli!" I muttered, my mom and Eli were talking happily just before I arrived…

"Ah, Maki, you are finally here" My mom said when she noticed my presence.

"M-Maki, hello…" Eli says shyly, she blushes a bit. _What did you do?!_ I ask her with my eyes. "Ah, I just came here to thank your mother about letting us use her summer house" She returns her eyes to my mom, who is smiling. "In the name of the Muse's, we are very grateful" Eli said politely. "I also apologize for taking so long to thank you, Miss Nishikino" Eli blushed a bit with embarrassment.

"Ah! Don't worry, dear. Anything for Maki's friends! I'm glad you all had fun" My mom said with a smile, the situation was so out of my control. My cheeks flushed by the frustration. _Maki and friends… her eternal worry._

"Oh, but we not only had fun. We worked really hard, do you know we are trying to save the school from closing?" _Great… just great!_ At this point I just stood there, speechless.

"R-Really?" My mom was surprised. "I had no idea…" She looked at me.

"E-Eli!" I whispered this time, but I knew she wasn't going to stop.

"Yes, so we are not playing games. It's a difficult situation but we are taking the responsibility of helping the school seriously" Eli explained effortlessly, not looking at me.

"Ah! I wouldn't expect less from my Maki" My mom said smiling at me. "Or from you, Ayase-san. You seem like quite the leader" Eli blushed a lot this time.

"Y-Yeah!" I outburst. "Eli, I'll escort you outside…" I grabbed the blondes arm, she didn't put any resistance. She seemed ready to receive my rant…

"Oh, but you don't want to stay for dinner?" My mom asked with a smile, I stopped my steps as Eli looked at my mom once again, but I still had my hand on her arm.

"T-Thanks for the offer, Miss Nishikino. But my sister is waiting for-"

"Yeah, she needs to go!" I pulled her softly to make her follow me again.

"It was nice to meet you, Miss Nishikino!" Eli managed to say just when I had my hand on the doorknob.

"It was a pleasure, Ayase-san. I hope I'll see you again soon" My mom waved with a smile and Eli waved back quickly before I shut the door behind me. I was looking directly at her, I was angered as Eli sighed in front of me, then she looked away.

"Before you-"

"W-what are you doing!?" I cut her off, apparently Eli was expecting this reaction from me.

"Maki, don't be mad-"

"I'm not mad!" But I clearly sounded otherwise, Eli signed again but she still acted calm, she crossed her arms and locked her eyes with mine.

"I told you I wanted to thank your-"

"You did way more than that!" I outburst once again as I walked past her, stopping when I was in front of the outside door, Eli just followed me silently.

"Well, I thought she had to know about us, we are not just playing around." She said calmly and just stood there, I was angry but I didn't knew exactly why…

"You are so… you had no right to…" I look away from her as I curl my hair.

"Well, I'm sorry for acting as your friend!" She said sarcastically. "I just wanted to help you" Her words were sincere, she keeps her eyes on me… "It's not a big deal-"

"You can't just come to my house and start talking with my mom like that!" I know now: I wasn't angry… I was just excessively embarrassed… and worried. My mom is going to start asking questions, she will want to talk about the group, about what we do… and to make it worse: Eli was so charming talking with her. I started to feel a bit guilty, I knew she did it for good purposes.

"I know you wouldn't like it. I'm sorry, but I thought I had to help you someway… but you just avoided me, so..." She sighed once again, maybe she was a bit hurt. "I'll just leave, then…" She turns around.

"W-wait!" She turns around once gain. "I… I'm sorry, okay?" Eli smiled softly.

"Don't worry… I'm sure she understands what we are doing… sorry I didn't told you I was coming" She says shyly as I move, feeling uncomfortable.

"I'll walk with you" I offer as I walk past her.

"Maki-"

"You know I can be very stubborn too, right?" I cut her off, I can still felt my cheeks burning. She gives me a challenging look.

"Yes, I know that very well" She says giving up and walking, I walked next to her. "Just… don't stay mad with me, please? I really just wanted to help…" Eli said with worry, looking at the floor as we walked.

"I-I'm not mad…" I look away from her as she looks at me. "I'm just… embarrassed. It was embarrassing."

"Oh." She said like she suddenly reminded the situation she was at. "Yeah, it was embarrassing. I was nervous about talking with your mom… I'm not that good at talking" She giggled nervously.

"What? If you two seemed like friends already!" I muttered to our embarrassment. I sighed. "But I'm also worried… now she is going to ask a thousand questions about Muse's and everything…" I said with annoyance, since she took everything that far, the only thing I could do at this point was talking with Eli about it. And I kind of needed it.

"Well, take it as an opportunity to explain everything to her. That way you won't have to worry about your parents worrying about it sooner or later" She said with a soft smile as I gave her an unamused look.

"You make it sound so easy…" This time I'm the one looking at the floor as we walk. "Maybe you should be the one to talk with her about it, I'm sure-"

"Oh no, my nervousness can't take another talk like that…" I look at her and we giggle, I snort.

"What a liar…" I think out loud, making the blonde giggle again. We arrive to her building entrance.

"Well, I hope you don't hate me that-"

"I don't hate you, Eli" I cut her off, she just smiles. I stay there, feeling a bit nervous about what is waiting for me at my house… Eli stood there too, like she knew about my worries. "What if they tell me to quit the club?" I randomly muttered.

"I don't think they will, but if that's the case, just explain to them how you feel and what _you_ want to do" She said softly, _she makes everything sound easy!_

"What if she… what if she wants to listen to our music and she hates it?" I counter attacked, I could picture a lot of things that could go wrong. Eli stood there with a pensively look.

"But what if she loves them? What if she is really proud? I'm pretty sure she is, don't overthink so much." Eli smiled wide as I looked away. "Just explain calmly how you feel and what are our goals, I'm sure that they will understand when you tell them" I couldn't stop a smile.

"Again, you make it sound so easy…" Eli giggles.

"Because it's easy, just talk to them, okay?" She puts her hand on my shoulder, making me feel a bit calmer. "It will be alright, I'm sure you will feel better" She squeezed my shoulder and I sighed. "Besides, your mom is really nice!"

"Fine… but if I don't go to school tomorrow, I'm probably dead so don't look for me" I laugh nervously at my own joke as the blonde rolls her eyes.

"You can be so over-dramatic. Of course I'll look for you… it would be a good story for a novel" we laugh for a bit at the joke. We stood there as I hesitated, _I guess is time to go._

"Well… bye then" I say even though a part of me didn't wanted to leave. I start walking away.

"Bye, Maki. Good luck!" She waves at me as she stays there looking out for me until I can't see her anymore.

I lost myself in my own thoughts: _Joining the Muse's is the first thing I ever did on my own, without them telling me to do it… They wanted me to play the piano so I did it, they wanted me to study and I did it, I never hesitated… and I'm glad for it, I really am, they were right about it. I'm just scared about what is going to be their reaction about doing something so 'unproductive' as being a school idol. After all, I only told them about it when we had to use the summer house. Of course they were happy about it at that moment, the lonely Maki, having eight friends? It was their dream coming true. But now? I don't think that's what they want me to do… and my biggest fear was disappointing them._ I sighed deeply before I enter to the house… I looked at new pair of shoes there. _Great, papa is also home…_ I thought sarcastically as I hear their voices coming from the kitchen. I thought about escaping to my room… but I remembered Eli's words… her voice in my head made me feel at least a bit courageous, _let's just end with this already!_ I sighed once again before I took a step inside the kitchen, they were drinking tea like they usually do. At this point I was just expecting the worst.

"Darling! Want some tea?" My mom asked.

"Sure. Hello papa" I responded shyly as I sat on the chair next to my mother… _this looks like an intervention._

"How are you, dear?" My dad asked before taking another sip.

"I'm great" I answered automatically, my mom looked at me as she gave me a cup of tea.

"So…" _here we go..._ "I was just telling your father about your friend" She said looking at him. _And?_ "And she was so nice, you need to introduce the rest of your friends next time. We only know about her and Hoizumi-san. Oh, how is she doing, by the way?"

"S-She is good..." I gulped… Silence invaded the room… it's like they were waiting for me to talk. But I had no words at the moment.

"You know we support you at everything, right Maki?" My dad said with pure honesty as my eyes stood on his own.

"You should've told us about it… why is the school about to close?" My mom sounds worried, she was part of that school after all.

"Uhm, well… because the decrease of students wanting to enter, basically" I explained before I took a sip of tea to ease my tension.

"Ah! So you formed a school idol group to attract students? That's really smart…" I blinked with surprise at my dad's words, _w-what?_ They laughed.

"I-I didn't formed it…" It was the only thing that came out of my mouth.

"We did some research about the so called school idols" My mom explained, _of course they did…_ I gulped once again. "It doesn't sound like something you would do…" I blushed, I thought about what I could say: _I know you two don't agree, but-_

"You have matured, Maki" My dad's words stopped my thoughts. He sounded proud, I took my eyes to my mom and she smiled at me.

"You have managed to keep up with your studies _and_ the Hospital while also working with your music and your new friends… and that's really impressive" My mom placed her hand gently on my arm. I felt my throat shouting. "We couldn't be any prouder!" My mom exclaimed, smiling wide. My eyes watered a bit because of the sudden relief and happiness I felt inside.

"R-really?" I barely muttered.

"Of course, Maki..." My dad reassured me. "and we will gladly help with anything you and your friends need. It's your school too, after all. We don't want it to close" I smiled wide. "And we want to listen to your new music! We are not that good with the internet so we couldn't find it..." The three of us laugh.

"We just want the best for you, Maki. But we also want you to be happy, we love you" The honesty of my moms words moved me, she grinned at me.

"Mom… Papa…" I looked at them. "Thank you" I said simply and they smiled wide at me.

"But next time you will talk to us about it, young lady. Is that clear? Don't hide stuff from us, we are interested in the things you like… even if music is not our forte anymore" Both of them laughed.

"Y-Yeah… I will" I nod, smiling wide.

"Ah… and I want to see you dancing!" My mom says with a smirk, I blush a lot. "That's something new for you and I can't quite picture it-"

"Y-You are not going to watch me dance!" I quickly muttered. "A-And… I didn't wanted to join the Muse's in the first place! But they needed someone to compose for them, okay? T-that's why I joined…" She just smiled at me.

"And I want to meet your friends, your mom is the only one who had meet them…" They giggle, at this point they are just teasing me. I roll my eyes.

"I have some homework to do!" I say standing up.

"And I want to go to one of their concerts… we should make some t-shirts!" _This… this isn't right!_

"You two are so embarrassing!" I muttered as I walked out of the kitchen.

"If you need any help... well, it was a good talk, dear!" I could hear my mom saying. I walked upstairs with a huge smile on my face… _I can't believe it ended up this… good? They support me…_ I felt like some weight left my shoulders, _reminder: thank Eli tomorrow... I hate that she is right almost always_. I was incredibly happy and inspired, _I'm ready to finish this recording! We are going to do the best concert ever!_

* * *

 **Eli Maki kind of centered chapter with a cameo of Maki's parents... sorry it took me a bit to update the story! And thanks for reading ^^U  
**


	6. Chapter 6 - The run

**Well, this 'chapter' ended up longer than I thought so I had to separate it in two... so I guess this first part might seem a bit like a filler chapter? Anyways, thanks to everyone who read the story ^^**

* * *

 **The run**

Next day I was on my way to school with Hanayo and Rin, just like we are used to.

"Our concert is tomorrow, I'm so happy nya!" Rin was jumping all around as the other girl gave her a tender smile.

"I'll never understand your constant excitement." I sighed loudly.

"And I'll never understand your constant denial of having excitement, nya!" I gave Rin a challenging look and she responded the same way.

"Hehe… Rin-chan I made some rice balls, want one?" Rin turned her focus towards Hanayo and nodded happily. I sighed once again… "And one for you, Maki-chan." I grabbed the rice ball before Hanayo's sadness or Rin anger made me eat it. _I prefer rice balls at lunch and I just ate breakfast… I can't say no to Hanayo, though._

"Hey" Someone appeared from behind me and bumped my shoulder. "Good morning! Maki, Hanayo, Rin." It was Eli, _w-where did she come from?_

"Eli-chan, good morning!" Rin exclaims before she takes another bite of Hanayo's rice ball.

"G-good morning." Hanayo voiced shyly, Eli just smiled at them.

"Eating a morning snack?" She asks us and I nod in response as I take my first bite.

"It's good Hanayo… new recipe?" The other first year nods with embarrassment as I give her a smile.

"Y-You want one, Eli-chan?" Hanayo muttered very timidly… _So this is the first time she gives Eli one of her rice balls? Oh, the anticipation…_ I looked at Eli.

"Sure!" Eli smiles cheerfully as she grabs the small food… but then she seems to notice certain tension around her: Hanayo kept looking intensively at the blonde as Rin kept a steady eye contact on her… Rin can be very intimidating when it comes to defending Hanayo. Eli giggled nervously and gave me a glance, like she was asking me for help. I smiled, _just eat it!_ I told her with my eyes. Eli flinched but then quickly took a bite.

"Harasho! It's delicious, Hanayo." Hanayo sighed deeply with relief as Rin smiled wide, _I'm sure Rin is glad Eli passed the test._ I giggled at the thought.

"R-really? I-I'm so glad…" Hanayo voiced with her hands on her chest before the other two first years continued walking, with Eli and I following them.

"Well… that was scary." Eli whispered half-jokingly, making me giggle.

"Hanayo takes their friends opinion on her rice very seriously." I explained as Eli chuckled, then she took another bite. "But you passed Rin's test, so you can live. At least for today." We laughed together this time.

"I barely survived…" I smiled at her as we finished the rice ball. _Reminder: thank Eli tomorrow,_ resonated in my brain. I felt my cheeks flushing a bit. "So?" She gazes at me.

"So w-what?" _Just thank her, Maki!_ Of course I knew what that 'so?' was asking…

"Well, you are clearly alive…" She looks at me and giggles. "Unless you are…" The blonde gasps dramatically, I gave her an unamused look.

"Well, I'm definitely not a ghost." I responded, her last expression making me laugh.

"A g-g-ghost?!" Hanayo looks around scared as Rin grabs one of her arms protectively.

"Where is it nya? Stay away from Kayo-chin!" Rin proceeds to punch the air repeatedly. Eli giggles silently as I roll my eyes.

"There's no ghost! Sheesh…" I muttered to calm them down, the two girls sighed in relief.

"We survived, Rin-chan." Hanayo smiled at the other first year who just nodded quickly. I rolled my eyes once again but then I joined Eli's giggle, _they are a mess._ We kept walking towards the school.

"I was going to say a zombie… or a vampire, it kind of suits you better than a ghost." Eli says jokingly.

"Ha, very funny… You are in a weird good mood today, huh?" Eli giggled but then she gave me a quick glance of worry. _If I don't tell you, you are just going to keep asking, right Eli?_ I sighed, I knew what she was about to ask me. "Yes, I talked with my mom and dad." Now she turned her face around to give me her full attention. I curl my hair at the memory of my parent's words from yesterday… I smile. "T-They were supportive…" I explained and Eli responded with a gasp of joy. "I-I guess they don't hate our club _that_ much!" _'We should make some t-shirts!'_ I shivered at the thought.

"I'm so glad! See? I told you, you only needed to talk to them." The blonde said happily.

"It's not like you're always right! You just were lucky this time!" I look away…

"I'm sure they were proud of you…" Eli gave me a smirk and I my cheeks flushed. _Reminder…_

"A-And I should thank you, I-I guess." I crossed my arms and took my eyes away from the blonde once again.

"You don't need to thank me… I only wanted to help." Eli muttered shyly and gave me a little smile.

"W-Well, you did. So just… thank you Eli." I voiced as we locked our eyes… I could feel my cheeks burning but I was really grateful and I wanted to make sure she knew it. "A-Anyways-"

"You're welcome." Eli voiced with honesty, her smile making me smile. "Take it as a payment for helping us out at the student council." I giggled in response.

"Whatever! Is not like I did that much…" I kept on rolling my hair strand. I flinched as I noticed something. "How did you knew exactly where I lived, by the way?" I raised one eyebrow at Eli.

"A-Ah… well…" She giggled nervously. "I just asked Nozomi." She admitted.

"Nozomi? But how does she know?" _How Nozomi knows about everything? Sheesh…_

"Uhm, she kind of knows everything, right?" I chuckled when Eli almost repeated my own thought.

"I'm sure she will say it's thanks to her cards or the spirits, who knows…" I rolled my eyes but I still giggled with her. "A-Anyways, I need you to listen to the final recording of the songs before I show it to the others…" _Why I have to flush at everything? I don't get it…_ "And Honoka too, of course." I wanted them to check the final recording for the concert. _It has to be perfect._

"Sure!" Eli seemed eager to hear it. "But it has to be before the practice." Eli sighed loudly as we entered the school terrain, there were people all around getting stuff ready for tomorrow's festival.

"Ah! You have the budget meeting today, right?" Eli nodded tirelessly, which made me giggle. "At least pretend to be excited, president…" I bumped her with my shoulder this time, she smiled.

"That's not part of the job… right?" We laughed just before three girls I couldn't recognize came to us, or better said: to Eli.

"P-President! We need to discuss this-"

"No! We have to talk about this first!" The other girl shook a bunch on papers she had, Eli sighed loudly and gave me a tired glance. I had to give her a warm little smile.

"Good luck!" Eli grinned in response before I walked away, leaving her discussing with the other girls. _Huh? Hanayo and Rin entered to the building already? I guess I was too distracted talking with Eli…_ I look over my shoulder and I couldn't stop myself from chuckling at Eli trying to stop the other girls from fighting. _She is quite the leader…_ I thought, remembering my mother's words.

...

Eli and Nozomi were busy all day, I was barely able to tell the blonde to come to the club room before practice. And that's just where I was, waiting very impatiently for Honoka and Eli to arrive… _I hope everything sounds good…_ I kept listening to the songs trying to check if every single sound was perfect. _'We couldn't be any prouder'_ I smiled at my mom's words from last night…

"S-Sorry I'm late, Maki." Eli sighed as she entered the room.

"I-It's fine… Honoka hasn't arrived yet." I took my headphone away.

"Ah! So I can be the first one to listen to it!" She voiced happily as she sat next to me.

"I… hmm…" It made me nervous but Eli gave me a reassuring smile, she was very excited. _Ugh,_ s _he can be such a child sometimes!_ "Fine, here." I gave her the other headphone and I played the first song of the concert, the new one called 'No Brand Girls'. I kept staring at Eli, I was trying to figure out what she was thinking… but she had her focused face, the one she has when she is too immersed in the student council work. _Come on, is it good? Bad? Eli, you are killing me!_ The song ended and… Eli smiled wide.

"Maki, you never cease to amaze me…" I blushed.

"I-Is not that good-"

"It is that good!" I started to curl my hair, trying to hide my smile away from the older girl. "Full of energy, it will be the perfect way to start the concert." She said with a smile.

"How was your meeting anyway?" I felt the need to change the topic after Eli's compliment… even though it draw a smile on my face that I couldn't take away. Eli sighed with frustration as she leaned back and looked up to the ceiling, I had to giggle silently at the blonde's gestures.

"It was kind of a mess… like always, and we also had to sort some things out for the festival." She proceeded to rest her elbows on the table and gave me a smile. "But we decided to worry about it after our concert." I gave her a grin, _you two work so hard sometimes, Eli._ "Hey, but don't change the subject! I want to hear the next-"

"I-I'm late!" Honoka exclaimed as she entered the room in a rush… I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, you are." I pointed out half-jokingly, Honoka smiled in response and grabbed the back of her neck.

"I had to tell the others to start practicing! We can't afford to lose time, right?" Eli giggled nervously.

"H-Honoka are you-"

"Let's hear it, Maki-chan!" Honoka's excitement was almost palpable, she sat at my right side. I sighed as I gave her the other headphone.

"Play the first one again." Eli voiced cheerfully and I smiled wide as I pressed the play button, _I'm so glad she liked it_. Then they proceeded to hear all the songs, one after another… I was just sitting there curling my hair while also being a ball of nervousness, just staring at the seconds passing. _I really hope there's no mistakes… I triple checked all of them over and over… but still-_ Eli took her headphone away.

"Ah! It's-"

"It's perfect!" Honoka completed with pure joy. "Perfect, perfect!" I smiled at the second year and so did Eli. "Now… there's no time to lose, let's go to practice!" Honoka grabbed Eli's arm and mine and pulled us away from the table. _We left the door open! What's wrong with her?!_

"H-Honoka slow down…" Eli muttered in an attempt to stop her but the girl kept running, making us run behind her, the second year released our arms when she noticed we were following her. I glanced at Eli and she looked at me… we giggled, _It's useless to refuse…_

"You two are slow today, huh?" Honoka mocked at us. _Ha! Challenging us? Bad call, Kousaka._ We were just jogging, but now we were running so we passed Honoka easily and now we ran upstairs in an implicit race… _I'm not losing to you, Eli!_

"The one who touches the roof door first, wins!" Eli said between her short breaths as I nodded. We did the last sprint at the same time as we extended our hands towards the door… _just a bit closer!_ Our hands touched the door at the same time… O _h no!_ That's what I thought when the door started to open wide thanks to our impulse, it wasn't locked so we fell shamefully into the floor… very shamefully.

"W-What-" Someone muttered, I think it was Umi.

"Ouch, you are over my arm, Eli!" Half of the blonde's body was over mine.

"S-Sorry!" Eli muttered as she looked at me. We started to laugh out loud as we sat on the floor.

"Are you two okay?" Nozomi voiced with concern as she and the others who were practicing came to us, but we just couldn't stop laughing. "You two…" The girls giggled at us when they realized we were fine.

"That was the best fall I've ever seen nya!" Rin exclaimed.

"Ten out of ten." Nico clapped mockingly and crossed her arms.

"You two are… crazy! … And fast!" Honoka finally got to the roof, she was panting heavily. Eli and I stopped laughing as we tried to catch our breath, the blonde cleaned a tear from laughter. I rubbed my shoulder as Eli stretched her back… _Ouch, it hurts! That was an intense race… and a more intense fall._

"Why were you racing? You can't run in the school building!" Umi scolded us as the rest of the girls giggled. Honoka laughed and extended her hands to help us stand up. "You two could've hurt yourselves! And Eli you are the student president…" I glanced at the blonde who got a bit embarrassed.

"I-I kind of forgot that rule…" Eli glanced at me and we giggled at our silliness.

"I've never seen you two act so stupid!" Nico voiced but we just ignored the comment.

"Enough fun, we need to practice!" Honoka ran to her dancing spot as the rest followed her lead in agreement. _Someone is being diligent today…_

"How does it feel, huh? The defeat?" I whispered triumphantly and teasingly to Eli.

"What? I won!" I giggled at the indignation in her tone.

"You fell on me, so I was there first-"

"That's because I'm taller than you!" We locked our eyes… then we had to laugh once again. "I think you broke one of my ribs, though." Eli said between the giggle while she rubbed her right side body. I rubbed my left shoulder as I opened my mouth to respond-

"Are you two done playing around?" Nozomi asked softly and giggled at us… Eli and I blushed as we hurried to our spots.

"What a way to start the practice nya!" Rin voiced as she chuckled, _our falling must have look very funny…_

"Ready? One, two, three!" Honoka leaded the training this time.

...

The second year made us practice like she was an over-energetic version of Umi mixed with Eli… so she was like the devil itself. We never finished a practice this late and we were never this sweaty and tired, and Honoka still wasn't satisfied.

"We should practice a little more, right Kotori-chan?" _Someone needs to stop this girl…_

"I-If you said so, Honoka-chan…" Kotori muttered shyly. _And that one is not going to be Kotori..._

"Kotori…" Umi gave the gray haired girl a weird look.

"I think is enough for today, Honoka." _Thank you Eli, some common sense!_ Honoka was about to refuse, she can be so persistent. "We are in our best form but we also need a rested body, don't you think?" the second year closed her mouth as Eli smiled. "We are done for today." The older girl voiced, making Hanayo sigh in relief. The nine of us started to walk downstairs… I stopped my steps when I noticed Nozomi and Eli stopped theirs.

"Huh? You two have more council duties?" I asked the third years, _they should rest too…_ "It's kind of late-"

"Don't worry about us, Maki-chan." Nozomi said gently as the two girls smirked at me. I blushed with frustration.

"I-I'm not-"

"Maki-chan, are you coming with us nya?" I turned around for a second to look at Rin but then I returned my eyes to Eli and Nozomi… _I would help them but it's late and I need to go to the hospital today…_

"We'll be fine, the day before a festival is always busy for us." Eli gives me a reassuring smile. "See you all tomorrow!" She waves her hand to the girls behind me, I sigh with defeat. "And good luck at the hospital." Eli said with a whisper and winked at me.

"F-Fine… goodbye then!" I muttered before I joined the others. _I hope they don't have that much work to do…_ I guess I got used to helping them out sometimes. _Sometimes? I've been spending a lot of time with them, now that I realize..._

"Remember to be early tomorrow!" Honoka shouted with excitement as she waved back at the two third years, but then gave Nico a sharp glare.

"Why you are giving me that look!?" Nico asked with anger.

"You know why, Nico-chan!" The second year stuck her tongue out as Nico seemed ready to rip it off.

"The one who needs to remember that is you, Honoka." Umi pointed out and we laughed, stepping out of the school building.

"Kotori-chan don't forget the costumes!" Honoka ignored Umi's words, Kotori nodded in response. "And Maki-"

"I won't forget the music, Honoka! Sheesh…" I looked away as the others giggled. It didn't took long until we separated from the second years.

"Ugh, don't you think Honoka is being too pushy?" Nico asked with annoyance. "Like, more than usual?"

"Honoka-chan is always like this…" Hanayo answered with some uncertainness.

"Only this time she outdid herself…" I commented as I crossed my arms.

"That's because we need to do our best tomorrow, nya!" Rin pointed out with excitement, making me roll my eyes. I parted away from them to walk towards my house … _Sheesh, I need to take a bath before going to the hospital. Ugh, I am all sweaty!_

...

Of course it had to be my busiest day ever at the hospital, I even had to stay an hour more. I sighed as I walked back home… _I'm really tired today. But it was a good day,_ I thought as I looked up to the dark sky. I smiled at the stars even if there were some dark clouds around them. _Tomorrow is a huge day for us!_ I got to my room and I threw my stuff on the floor as I lie down on my bed, I sighed with relief. _I just need to save enough energy to put on my pajamas…_ I felt my stomach roaring, _and eat something too._ I hear my cellphone ringing… _huh?_ It's Eli.

"E-Eli? What's going on?" I turn around to face the ceiling, _she must be calling for a reason…_

"Maki! Hello… ah, it's nothing, I'm just checking on all of you. How was the hospital today?" I smiled, _she cares too much…_

"Well… I just got home. Have you called the others?" _I wonder if she could figure out what is going on with the second years..._

"W-Well, I called you after Nozomi, then I'm calling the others to make sure they rest. Especially Honoka." I giggled.

"Have I told you that you worry too much?" I could picture the blonde blushing slightly.

"Y-Yes, you have! But I don't… not really." I smiled.

"Oh, and you two finished the work you had?" I asked as I remembered, _I wanted to help…_ I couldn't stop a yawn, it made Eli giggle and my cheeks flush.

"Almost, but let's not worry about that, tomorrow is all about the school festival. You should rest okay? You had a long day, so go to sleep." I rolled my eyes as I smirked.

"But I wanted to do a full 10km run right now-"

"M-Maki! You can't-" I laughed.

"I was joking Eli, sheesh…" _Too easy._

"Very funny… I thought maybe you wanted to train, you know? After you ate my dust today." One of my eyebrows raised at the teasing voice of the blonde.

"Ha! If someone needs training is you, Eli." We giggled simultaneously, probably at the memory in slow motion of our race. "It felt good to win that race…"

"Especially the finish line, am I right?" We laughed out loud again. "Stop making me laugh my rib hurts." We chuckled, _did she really hurt herse-_ "Okay enough fun for today. You are tired, so go to sleep okay?"

"I'm not a small baby, Eli-"

"Are you sure? Because-"

"Sheesh, stop it!" I blushed as I hear a giggle. "Go call the others. And yes, I'll get some rest…" I responded before the blonde talked again. "And no, you'll never be capable of beating me." Another duet of chuckles came. "You should rest too, you know?"

"I will, goodnight Maki!" I smirked as I prepared to whisper.

"You are the small baby after all-"

"What did you just-"

"Goodnight Eli!" I hang up the call as I giggled. _Sheesh, Eli…_ I stretched myself as I stood up. I remembered our fall for the last time and I grinned at the thought. I went to the kitchen to eat a quick dinner, then I put on my pajamas… I yawned once again as I lay down in my bed. I fell asleep rather quickly that night.

* * *

 **If you've seen the anime you'll know next chapter could get a bit angsty... Oh well, I think from now on things will slowly start to get more 'interesting' in the *coughelimakicough* department. I have to make emphasis in the slowly haha. I really wish i could speed up things but it seems like that's not how my writing works? lol idk, it's a new experience for me this writing+publishing. (Tips are always welcomed) Anyways, hope u are having a good day :)**


	7. Chapter 7 - Next song

**SORRY for the huge delay ;-; I was a bit busy and lost this chapter... so I had to rewrite it... and here it is!**

* * *

 **Next song**

I had to use an umbrella and a coat on my way to school… I sighed loudly, _seriously? It had to rain today of all days? The day of our concert? Way to go, sky!_ I thought as I walked under the pouring rain towards the school building, I could see Hanayo and Rin waiting for me at the entrance. Of course they had a very troubled face.

"Maki-chan, what can we do?" Hanayo asked as I took off my coat.

"There's not much we can do…" I couldn't hide my pessimism.

"We should go check the roof nya! Maybe we can swipe the water later… rain can't last forever!" Rin grabbed Hanayo as they walked upstairs, _at least someone is optimist._ I just followed them in silence, _how can we do a concert like this?_

We arrived to the roof floor and I leaned my back against the wall while the other two first years looked through the window door… I flinched when I felt pain in my left shoulder, _Ugh, I guess our fall was pretty hard after all._ I half smiled at the memory of our fall as I rubbed my shoulder, then I leaned against the wall again but this time with the weight on my right side. I kept looking at the two first years… they seem devastated by the rain. I hear some steps coming that made me turn around, it's Eli and Nico. The blonde gives me a sad smile as Hanayo and Rin dare to open the door.

"Today doesn't seem like our lucky day, right?" I nodded at Eli's words.

"Don't say that! This is just a test, true idols should be able to perform in any circumstances!" The blonde just smiled at Nico's words.

"But it's pouring, nya…" Rin exclaimed as her and Hanayo peeked outside.

"And there's no one here…" Hanayo voiced with worry, Eli just crossed her arms.

"It can't be helped, it's because of the rain." I explained the other two girls.

"We will have to attract the audience with our singing." Eli said calmly… then I could notice Umi and Kotori were talking secretively just a few steps down.

"I'm feeling bumped already!" Nico shouted with excitement as Eli giggled… I just kept watching the two second years, they don't seem to be talking about something nice. "Nico Nico-Ni!"

"We can swipe the water away when the rain stops nya! Right, Kayo-chin?" Rin said with the same excitement as Hanayo nodded in response… I see Kotori leaving Umi behind. Eli seemed to notice I was paying attention to something else so she turned around to see what it was, Umi froze there for a few seconds before she walked downstairs too.

"We should go to the club room to get ready, right?" Hanayo said softly as Nico and Rin nodded, then the three girls started to walk downstairs. Eli gave me a concerned look as we both stood there, I separated myself from the wall.

"What's going on with Umi?" Eli asked when we couldn't hear the others anymore.

"I don't know… She was taking with Kotori about something that didn't seem like good news." I voiced with some distress as I turned around to peek outside the window door. "To make this day worse, I don't think the rain is stopping anytime soon." I glanced at Eli, I was fully expecting her to say something optimistic. She gave me a soft smile.

"We will figure something out… We always do, right?" I giggled at the blonde.

"Yeah, at least you don't have an injured shoulder." I joked as I rubbed the painful spot again.

"W-what?" Eli gave me a very concerned look. "Are you okay?" _ugh, I shouldn't have said that._

"I-It's was a joke, I'm fine Eli-"

"Let me see it." I blushed intensively as she gave me a serious look. "Come on." She voiced and I knew just by looking at her eyes that she wouldn't take a no for an answer.

"I-It's just a bruise…" I rolled my sleeve up and we saw a bruise there. "See? It's nothing." Eli came closer to give a better look at it, she placed her fingers softly on my shoulder. I had to stop myself from shivering at the touch as Eli sighed.

"Yeah, it's just a bruise… I'm sorry." Eli voiced with pure guilt, I just giggled at her while I fixed my sleeve.

"It's a low price to pay for beating you." I gave her a reassuring smile and she chuckled silently in response.

"Well, it's not like I didn't paid a price too…" Then she carelessly pulled her shirt and waistcoat up. I opened my eyes wide at the look of Eli's perfect stomach… except for a nasty bruise on her right side.

"E-Eli!" I grabbed her hand and pulled it down to cover her body again as I looked around to see if someone was watching, I notice my face was burning as Eli just giggled nervously when she realized what she just did. _For some reason it was very embarrassing, it's not like I haven't seen her stomach before but still…_ I cleared my throat to regain my composure. "S-sorry… for the bruise I mean!" She shook her hand, dismissing my words. "Are you sure you are fine?" I tried to hide my concern but her bruise looked more painful than mine.

"It was a low price for kicking your butt." She winked at me and I grinned at her words. "I'm fine, Maki. We should go prepare with the others." She started to walk downstairs and I followed her.

"Kicking my-? Oh! You mean in your dreams?" I corrected as she giggled. "And don't go around showing your stomach to everyone!" I said with a half-joking half-scolding tone, _if someone else watched Eli…_ I blushed at the thought, it made me very uncomfortable. The blonde's cheeks got red with embarrassment.

"I-It wasn't everyone, it was just you!" Eli suddenly opened her eyes wide. "Not that I don't care if I show it to you, I-I mean it's still embarrassing… I mean! I just wanted to show you the bruise! I'm not showing around anything!" Eli muttered and I just laughed out loud at her troubled words. "Shut up…" She voiced with her face all red as we walked down the hallway, towards the club room.

"I was joking at you." I pointed out, we giggled but we were still flustered.

"We will worry about the second years after the concert, alright?" She voiced with sudden seriousness and I nodded in response as we entered the room.

"I was about to look for you two! Go get ready, sheesh!" Nico shouted, she was wearing her costume already. "Nico Nico-Ni!" The girl practiced and I glanced at Eli, we rolled our eyes simultaneously.

"Ah, I was wondering where were you two…" Nozomi said with a smirk as we entered to the changing room, I ignored her usual teasing as Eli sighed. Nozomi, Rin, Hanayo and Kotori were already dressed. Umi was probably changing in one of the small fitting cubicles we had so Eli and I entered to the other two empty ones when Kotori gave us our respective clothes.

I looked at the costume and I flinched when I noticed it was one that left our belly… _This is kind of uncovered, especially for a rainy day like this…_ I kept changing my clothes until certain stomach came to my mind. "Hey, Eli…" I whispered to the curtain next to mine. _I guess there was no point in worrying about someone else seeing her- wait, that doesn't concern me._

"M-Maki? What's up?" I hear Eli whisper back.

"Your bruise is going to be noticeable…" I pointed out, I felt my cheeks blush at the memory. _Sheesh, it was just Eli that pulled her shirt up carelessly like that…_ _she shouldn't do that!_

"A-ah… it's okay, I'll cover it up." She answered with a low voice. I shook my head as I smiled. I put on my vest and belt, _I think I'm ready…_ _we are going to freeze outside._ "Are you dressed?" I hear the blonde whispering once again.

"Me? Y-Yeah…" I muttered, then silence. "Why?"

"Can I move the curtain? I need you to check if the bruise it's still noticeable…" Eli asked shyly, making me flush.

"S-Sure…" I answered and the blonde rolled the curtain. I looked at Eli… the small touches of sky blue fit her very well, it matches her eyes. And her body-

"S-So?" Eli asked as she moved to show me her right side… the bruise wasn't covered, it was visible... the blonde had a makeup cream on her hand.

"I'll do it…" I voiced and Eli nodded shyly in response, then she passed me the cream she had and hugged her body so her arms wouldn't get in the way. I put some of the makeup cream on my finger and I placed it softly on the bruise… the blonde shivered. "S-sorry… did that hurt?" _I guess her bruise is worse than mine,_ I gave the older girl a concerned look and she looked away with embarrassment. I gulped as my cheeks got red.

"N-No…" She muttered, I just nodded and then I pressed the cream very carefully on the damaged skin.

"Sorry about it…" I voiced with guilt giving Eli a quick glance, she seems blushed. _This just feels… embarrassing._

"Sorry? You soften the fall." We chuckled as I leaned back to give it a better look.

"I think is done." Eli moved to check it out… I kept looking at her. _I shouldn't be nervous I'm going to be a doctor someday!_ But I gulped once again. _Brain, stop it._

"Yeah… T-thank you" Eli said shyly and I had to look away. W _hy does it feel so embarrassing… is not a big deal right?_ _I even helped stich a wound in someone else's abdomen before but this felt-_ "You forgot your ribbon for the neck." Eli pointed out simply as she grabbed a ribbon on the floor.

"W-What-"

"I'll help you out." I blinked in surprise but then I nodded timidly as she wrapped the ribbon around my neck… For some unknown reason my heart started to beat faster.

"Just don't strangle me." I joked awkwardly, making the blonde laugh.

"Don't worry, we are not at that point yet!" She said jokingly and I chuckled in response. "Done." She took a step back and looked at me. "You look good." She voiced simply like she was thinking out loud, it made me look away with embarrassment. _I look good? Have you seen yourself-_

"Are you two ready?" We flinched at Umi's voice. "We need to start our stretches! And where is Honoka?" The second year voiced with frustration. Eli opened the curtain and we stepped out of the fitting room, I gave Eli a quick glance… _was she a bit blushed too or…? Nah._ I shook my head.

"Honoka is not here?" Eli asked with evident worry, the others were doing some stretching exercises as Umi keep her eyes on the door. _It's weird, even for Honoka, to not be here already… it's almost time to start the concert!_ "She will be here soon, let's just get ready." Eli voiced in an attempt to calm the other two second years… That's just when someone opened the door.

"G-Good morning…" It was Honoka.

"You are late!" Nico complained as the girl entered the room.

"S-Sorry... I oversleep just a bit… he-he." Honoka walked in but then she lost her balance, Kotori had to grab her by the shoulders.

"Honoka-chan, are you okay?" Kotori asked softly, I noticed Honoka's face seems unusually red.

"Sorry, sorry." The girl muttered in response and then she grabbed her throat. S _he sounds-_

"Honoka your voice sounds strange." Eli pointed out, reading my mind.

"Y-You think so? I'll drink some medicine…" This time the girl covered her throat pain well. "I'll go get ready!" She voiced and rushed into one of the cubicles. Umi and Kotori exchanged some concerned looks. I looked at Eli and she glanced at me. "Where are my clothes?" Honoka asked, making Kotori hurry to pass her the costume.

"It just keeps raining nya!" Rin pointed out making the rest of us to turn around to look through the window. Kotori and Umi were still waiting for Honoka.

"And it's not slowing down…" Eli observed as I hear Umi is passing Honoka some medicine. _And if Honoka is sick… this isn't good._

"It just keeps getting stronger!" Nico voiced with frustration.

"Even if anyone comes to see us…" I glanced at Eli and she looked down. _This concert doesn't seem like a good idea now…_

"Let's do it!" Honoka suddenly said with excitement, making us turn around to face her.

"But Honoka…" Eli tried to stop the second year, but she had that passionate look in her eyes.

"Our first concert was like this! But we came this far because we never gave up, right? We can do it, I'm sure we can!" Honoka said with her head lifted up. _Sheesh, this girl can't be stopped…_ I smiled.

"We have been practicing so hard…" Hanayo voiced shyly as Rin nodded.

"We need to do our best nya!" The girl pumped her fist in the air.

"We will see the results of our hard work after our concert." Eli commented.

"Let's do the best we can." Nozomi said with a soft smile, _I guess we are doing this concert no matter what._ I shuddered my shoulders.

"Let's show them how better we got." I voiced as I couldn't stop myself from joining the excitement of the others, _we have been working hard, after all…_

"Our audience awaits us! Nico Nico-Ni!" Nico shouted happily.

"Kotori…" I could hear Umi voicing behind me. "Let's focus on the concert from now on, right?" Kotori just nodded. Then Umi looked at Honoka with evident worry. "But Honoka, are you-"

"Come on! We can't have people waiting for us in the rain!" Honoka ran out of the room and we did the only thing we could: we followed her lead, she is our leader after all.

"I don't think the makeup is going to survive this rain." I said with a low voice to the blonde next to me.

"It hope it does, it's an ugly bruise…" We giggled silently.

"If it does fade, just pretend it part of your character, a Russian assassin or something." Eli and I chuckled as we all stepped into the roof, there were some people with umbrellas waiting for us. I noticed Eli's little sister was here and waved at us with excitement, it made the blonde next to me smile… and I smiled too. We walked directly to the stand and each girl stood in their respective spot, even if the rain was pouring all over us.

"Welcome to our concert! I hope you all enjoy it… just ignore the rain!" Honoka voiced excitedly and made the audience giggle. Then we turned around, we were ready for our new song to start. Music started playing and we followed the choreography.

...

We stood in our final pose as the public clapped happily. _One song down. We performed really well, considering the ra-_ suddenly Honoka fell to the floor.

"Honoka!" Umi shouted as Eli ran towards the girl on the floor.

"Honoka-chan!" Kotori voiced with worry. _Did she fainted?!_

"Honoka, are you alright?" Eli placed her palm on the girl's forehead. "S-She has a fever."

"Onee-chan!" Yukiho joined us on the stage. _W-What do we do-_

"Elicchi…" Nozomi voiced to the blonde, making Eli flinch and stand up.

"Maki, Umi, take her to the club room." I nodded quickly as Umi and I grabbed Honoka by the shoulders, she was like dead weight but we managed to lift her up. We started to walk towards the building with Kotori and Yukiho behind us. I glanced at the sick girl… _Honoka…_ An umbrella suddenly covered us, it was Arisa. Eli stood facing the rest of the audience. "We are very sorry, but one of our members is not feeling okay… Our concert is cancelled… Thanks for coming, you all should cover yourselves from the rain." The blonde explained and I could hear some murmurs as we sheltered ourselves in the building, Honoka could barely walk even with Umi and I's help… _We need to grab her better if we are going downstairs..._

"We need to lift her up…" I grabbed as much of Honoka's weight as I could, I notice Umi was frozen looking at Honoka. "Umi!" I voiced making the girl snap out of it, she nodded and pulled Honoka up, Rin came to help too and then we started to walk downstairs.

"I knew it was a bad idea, she wasn't feeling well! Onee-chan…" Yukiho muttered.

"She will be alright, Yukiho." Arisa's voice tried to calm the other girl, we walked as fast as we could down the hallway and into the club room. We sat Honoka on a chair and I placed my hand on her forehead… _she is burning!_

"I-I'm alright…" Honoka muttered before she rested her arms and head on the table. "T-The concert…"

"Forget about the concert!" Umi said in an outburst, she was almost tearing up.

"I'll get her a blanket or something…" I grabbed two towels I could find in the other room and I placed them over Honoka just as the rest of the girls entered the room. They had a very concerned look on their faces.

"Yukiho, can you give me your parent's number?" Eli voiced with authority, Yukiho nodded and gave the older girl her cellphone… Eli walked out of the room.

"Onee-chan… why are you so stubborn!?" Yukiho voiced as she tried to dry her sister's hair.

"Honoka-chan…" Kotori muttered between her silent sobbing. It did not take long for Honoka's parents to arrive, they rushed her to the hospital and Arisa took care of taking Yukiho to her house.

...

We were just standing around our club's table… Kotori wasn't crying anymore, instead she just stared at the floor. Umi suddenly crunched on the floor and started sobbing… Hanayo and Rin went to the other room to look for some towels for the rest of us. I crossed my arms nervously… _what a mess…_

"I-It was my fault…" Umi muttered between sobs. Eli crouched in front of the girl and placed a hand on Umi's arm. Hanayo gave me a towel as Rin covered Kotori with another one.

"Umi, it wasn't-"

"It was!" Umi shouted with anger as she took her face out of hiding. "I knew she was sick! I should've stopped her!" Rin tried to cover Umi with a towel but the girl refused. "I don't want that!" The blue haired girl yelled.

"Umi! Listen to me!" Eli placed her hands on Umi's shoulders to make her look right at her eyes. "It wasn't your fault. Honoka is going to be alright, okay?" Umi's eyes watered once again and Eli just pulled the girl on a hug, she just kept crying on the blonde's shoulder. Eli gave me a quick glance and I placed one of the towels above Umi…

"Kotori-chan, let's go change our clothes, alright?" Nozomi said with her usual soothing voice. Kotori just nodded slowly as the third year helped her stand up, Nico followed them to the other room. Umi eventually stopped sobbing and just kept her face on the blonde's shoulder, with Eli still rubbing her back. I exchanged some concerned looks with Hanayo and Rin. I turned around to see Nico returning with Nozomi and Kotori behind her, they were back in their school clothes and the third year had an arm around the second year.

"We will go…" Nico glanced at Kotori with concern. "We will walk home together, there's no point in staying at the festival anymore…" She voiced with certain sadness as she walked towards the door.

"We will see you all tomorrow." Nozomi said with a soft smile as she and Kotori followed Nico and left the room. Umi leaned back, away from Eli and wrapped herself with the towel. I quickly grabbed the one towel left and extended it to Eli as she stood up.

"T-Thank you…" She just grabbed it and avoided my eyes. "You three should go change your clothes too." Rin and Hanayo followed her orders and entered to the other room, I stood there looking at Eli… I knew how guilty she felt and how hard she was trying to keep her composure.

"Eli-"

"Please, I don't want you to get sick too." Eli voiced looking directly into my eyes, I noticed hers were a bit watered… then she looked away. I just nodded slowly before going to the other room to change my clothes. _What a disaster… we shouldn't have performed like this! I know Honoka will be alright, but…_

I stepped out of the fitting room wearing my uniform again, Hanayo and Rin were shyly waiting for me. I lead the way back to the other room. Eli was sitting leaning on her elbow and lost in her own thoughts while Umi hasn't moved. Eli glanced up to look at us before she stood up.

"Umi, let's go get changed too…" Eli voiced softly and extended her hand to help the other girl stand up.

"O-Okay…" Umi said as Eli pulled her up. "We should call Honoka's mother…"

"We will, don't worry." Eli said softly before they entered to the other room, I just kept my eyes on the blonde…

"Nico-chan is right… we should just go home." Rin voiced with unusual sadness, Hanayo just nodded. I was trying to peek inside the other room, _those two worry me…_

"Y-you two go ahead… and use an umbrella." I voiced before rushing back into the changing room. I saw Eli with her arms crossed, just looking at the pouring rain with an expressionless face. _Eli, this is not your fault… it is OUR fault…_

"Eli…" I voiced as I step closer to the blonde. She gave me a quick look in my eyes before she returned them to the window.

"I'll take Umi home..." I noticed her voice cracking a bit. "Go with Rin and Hanayo, tell them to take a hot bath as soon as they get home. You do the same." She said the last words looking into my eyes, I was about to refuse, I knew she was just keeping it together for the sake of staying strong. "Please…" Eli said returning her eyes to the rain when they started to get watered again.

"I'll stay-"

"Please, Maki!" She begged with her cracking voice, locking her eyes with mine. "I don't want you to get sick too…"

"O-Okay…" I muttered softly trying to calm her down as she cleaned her eyes and took a deep breath. "Text me when you get home, okay?" I nodded and I covered her shoulders with another towel as I noticed she didn't seemed worried in drying herself.

"Hey!" I voiced as I shook her shoulder to make her look at me again. "Dry yourself and get changed too, you hear me?" Eli seemed about to protest. "Eli, please." I voiced with pure concern with my hand on her shoulder. I kept my eyes on hers until she nodded, I gave her the warmest smile I could.

"Fine… but you go-"

"Yes, I'll make sure Rin and Hanayo get home." Eli was about to talk again. "And I will take a hot bath. You too, deal?" She gave me a little smile.

"Deal…" She proceeded to walk to one of the fitting rooms. "I'll see you tomorrow." I smiled at her as she closed the curtain while looking at me… I sighed, then I ran out of the club room. I was able to catch up to Hanayo and Rin and the rain was finally slowing down.

"Poor Honoka-chan…" Hanayo dared to end the silence of our own steps.

"Yeah…" I voiced as I looked down to the floor. "But I'm sure she will be alright very soon, she is strong." I voiced to ease the concerns. Or try to.

"We should do something to cheer her up, right Kayo-chin?" Hanayo and I smiled at the always optimistic Rin. "We could cook her some rice balls nya! She is going to love it!" Hanayo nodded with a little smile.

"That's a good idea Rin-chan." I smiled, _these two can light up any day…_ I escorted them to Hanayo's house, Rin was going to stay there. They tried to make me stay but I said I couldn't. I thought about returning to the school… but I was sure Eli wanted to take Umi home as fast as possible so they were probably not there, I just walked in my house direction. I stopped my steps when I reached Eli's building entrance… I sighed with sadness… _What a mess! We all worked so hard, Honoka worked so hard…_ I pressed my fists with frustration. _This sucks!_ I looked up to the building… _I know how bad Eli is feeling right now, but I also know she isn't going to show that to anyone. Ugh, if I knew her apartment number…_ I sighed. _We shouldn't have let this happen…_

* * *

 **Lots of awkwardness... and sadness. sorry for the delay again :(**


	8. Chapter 8 - Caring

**Another chapter! Thanks for the support :3 There will be a couple of changes in POV in this chapter, i hope it's not confusing. well, hope you are having a great day too!**

* * *

 **Caring.**

 _Sheesh… yesterday was such a mess._ I was walking alone to school. _I just hope Honoka is feeling a lot better. We need to-huh?_ I noticed certain blonde walking just a few steps ahead of me.

"E-Eli! Good morning…"

"Maki, good morning." Eli answered simply as I walked next to her. "How are you?"

"I-I'm okay. How are you? And Umi?" Eli sent me a text last night when she got home, but she didn't answer my reply.

"I'm good. Umi is good too… She will call Honoka today… I hope she is feeling better." I nodded slowly… _that 'good' didn't sound honest. I don't think we are 'good' after what happened…_

"I'm sure she will be back soon enough." I gave Eli a reassuring smile but she just sighed.

"Yeah, I sure hope so… Hmm, I have to go to the office. I'll see you later." Eli gave me a quick wave and left me… I stood there looking at the blonde… _So this is how the day is going to go. I hope Honoka gets back soon._ I sighed… and it seems like it's about to rain again.

...

After classes, instead of practicing like we are used to, we were waiting for Eli to get back to the club room. She was reunited with the director… judging by the look on Nozomi's face… it didn't seem like good news. Nico was tapping the club table impatiently.

"What's taking her so-" Eli appeared and that stopped Nico from talking, Rin and Nico stood up. I rested my head on my hand, _I can tell just by looking at her that we are about to receive some really bad news._ She sat down and gave us a serious look.

"I spoke with the director… she is obviously not happy with what happened. She thinks we are pushing ourselves too much… I'm just…" Eli sighed deeply. "I'm going to be direct: she says this is not the kind of results they want from us, so she suggested we forget about participating in the Love Live." _'Suggested'?_

"W-What are you talking about!?" Nico shouted… we were all a bit shocked.

"But what about the school?" Kotori asked this time.

"We are not disbanding… we are just not competing anymore." Eli glanced down.

"Do we have a say in this or what?" Nico voiced with frustration.

"I guess there were going to be some repercussions for not taking care of ourselves like we should have…" Nozomi glanced down too. Then… silence.

"The director wanted us to discuss it. But it's obvious we need to revoke our entry." The blonde voiced once again… Hanayo was close to tears. _We were trying so hard… maybe too hard…_

"But we worked so hard, nya!-"

"This is not fair!" Nico voiced with the same frustration as Rin.

"I-I know… but our goal for now should be getting Honoka back… then we will focus on keeping the school open." Eli looked at us one by one. "I am sorry too… but there's not much we can do. We need to revoke our entry… we agree?" The rest of the girls exchanged some looks… I just kept looking at Eli.

"Yes." I voiced out loud, making everyone glance at me. "Eli is right… We can't focus on the Love Live if Honoka is sick. And we can't participate without the director's approval..." _so… we have no choice, not really._

"And our primary goal is to keep the school open, right?" Nozomi said this time, we all nodded.

"Nico… can I leave it to you to revoke our entry?" Nico flinched and looked down… but then she nodded silently. "Thank you… Nozomi." The two third years stood up.

"We have some student council duties." Nozomi apologized as they walked away, but I stood up too.

"Y-You two… need help?" I peeked outside the room, Nozomi gave me a tender smile.

"Don't worry, Maki. We are alright." Eli voiced simply and just like that, they left… this time I was the one looking down to the floor. _Why is she so stubborn?!… I know they are not okay, no one is okay… and no Love Live… after we worked so hard._ I turned around, the atmosphere was so… depressing.

"W-We… we should visit Honoka-chan, right? We can get her some snacks nya!" Rin voiced as happily as she could. _Not even Rin can turn this situation around…_

"I called her mom and she is not feeling that good today…" Umi said this time. "Maybe tomorrow we can visit her." Nico stood up and walked to the computer, probably to send our resignation.

"I… I have some things to do." I voiced simply and left the room… no one followed me. I wanted to be alone… so I went to the music room and did what I was eager to: play the piano.

—

Next day we were eating lunch together talking about Honoka, the only ones that were not here were Eli and Nozomi, they were probably busy. At least the other girls seemed a lot more enthusiastic after this last crappy days.

"Honoka's mother said we could visit her today." Umi voiced with a smile.

"I'm so glad!" Hanayo said happily. "We should buy her favorite bread, right Rin-chan?" Rin nodded quickly. I glanced around… _Why they are not here? It's lunch time._

"Where are-"

"They were busy with the student council." Nico explained, even though I was supposing that already.

"The eight of us should go cheer Honoka up after classes, nya!"

"I'm sure that would make her happy." Umi voiced as she glanced at Kotori… _Kotori seems very sad still, she probably wants to see Honoka._ I stood up.

"I'll go inform Nozomi and Eli." I voiced and I walked away from them. _I hope they are not busy right now._ I peek inside the office and there's Nozomi with her cards… she was probably distracting herself a bit from work. There was a huge pile of documents next to her.

"Ah! Maki-chan, how are you?" She gives me a soothing smile.

"I'm fine… I was with the others, we can go visit Honoka today." I sat down next to Nozomi, she smiled wide in response.

"That's great! More good news: my cards were just telling me that she will be back to school tomorrow." I rolled my eyes. "But…" Nozomi seemed troubled.

"But what? Some other cards are in a bad mood today?" I giggled at Nozomi, _this girl and her fortune… she definitely takes her cards too seriously._

"Maybe." Nozomi voiced simply as she kept her eyes on her cards.

"Are you okay?" I asked with some concern. I knew Eli was feeling down, but now Nozomi was quiet too.

"Yes, ah!" She gave me a smirk. "Are you worried about me, Maki-chan?" I blushed a bit and looked away.

"I am not! Sheesh… it's just that you two have been acting weird! Well, everyone is been acting weird…" I pointed out. Nozomi returned her eyes to the cards… like they were a puzzle. "A-anyways… where is Eli?" I asked finally.

"Ah, she left for a bit. She was pensive and since we have another budget meeting after the break…" I moved uncomfortably on my seat. "Yeah, she is also worried about Honoka." Nozomi commented like she could read my mind.

"I see… she shouldn't blame herself." _Eli…_ Nozomi gave me a weird look. "I-I mean, she worries too much, so…"

"Yeah, you are totally right. We still have some documents to sort…" The older girl gave me a big smile, I moved my eyes around the room with impatience… _Why she seems like waiting for me to say something?_

"I-I… I mean, I should go look for her, right?" Nozomi placed her hand on her jaw pensively. "Since you are busy."

"Hmm, you actually should. I don't want her to be late." I stand up quickly, I've been wanting to talk with Eli after seeing her like that the other day.

"Okay… I'll be back soon." I glanced over my shoulder before leaving the office, for some reason Nozomi grinned at me. I rolled my eyes, _so… where are you?_ _Something tells me that…_ I started to walk upstairs… _And I was right._ I could see Eli sitting with her back against the wall next to the roof door.

"M-Maki, what are you-"

"I thought you'll be here…" She avoided my eyes. I hesitated for a second but then I sat on the last stair, in front of her, _she seems… sad. Like, close to tears sad._ "Are you okay? Umi said we could visit Honoka today…" I voiced softly, I noticed Eli pressing her fists with frustration. "Eli-"

"I'm okay, Maki. You can go now. Yeah, I'm glad we can visit Honoka today." I flinched… I now she sounded a bit harsh but I also knew she didn't meant it. _Hmm…_ "You shouldn't worry." My eyes meet with her blue ones… _but I'm not leaving you alone._

"This is not your fault, you shouldn't blame-"

"I... Well, I am!" She cut me off, then looked directly into my eyes. "I'm her senpai, Maki! I shouldn't have allowed this to happen! Of course it's my fault, I noticed she was sick and I didn't stopped her… and now we can't participate in the Love Live, it's all my fault…" Her eyes watered a bit so she looked away.

"We all noticed, Eli. It wasn't anyone's fault-"

"Honoka is sick because of my selfishness and now the school-"

"Don't say that! You are not selfish at all-"

"I'm the one responsible! I need to take care of you all… it's what matters the most to me and I failed…" Her last words barely came out… I instinctively placed my hand on her knee to make the blonde look at me.

"Eli… It was our fault too… w-we all made a mistake." She kept looking at me.

"It was my mistake, I should have noticed-"

"No, it wasn't! Honoka is always been there to encourage us and now we need to do the same… The only thing we can do now is be there for her, right?" I voiced softly once again… I gave her the best smile I could.

"Y-You are right… We need to be there for her." Eli cleaned her eyes with her jacket.

"And we can't give up, we still have a school to save, right?" Eli sighed. "And we will, trust me."

"You are right, sorry for th-"

"Bah, it's okay." I took my hand off Eli and I found myself missing her touch… I wanted to comfort the older girl. But I decided to look away, she was probably embarrassed.

"And you saw me like this two days ago… sorry-"

"Stop apologizing!" I cut her off and I locked my eyes with hers. "You are not the only one who takes care of us, we also take care of you. I take care of you." I emphasized with honesty as I crossed my arms, then she giggled a bit. "A-and don't make me say that ever again." I avoided her look, flustered.

"T-Thank you, Maki…" She gave me a genuine smile.

"Now cheer up! You won't be able to win another race against me with that mood!" I joked with the intent to make the blonde laugh… and it worked.

"So you finally admit the defeat, huh?" I shuddered my shoulders as I bite my lip to stop myself from smiling.

"Your bruise seemed more painful than mine, so I thought it was fair…" We giggled together this time.

"That's because I fell above you, little rock…" I chuckled. "How is your shoulder?"

"In a couple of days there will be no trace of our… ahem, little fall over there." I shook my head to point out the door next to Eli, we had to laugh at the memory. "And your side body? I'm glad you are not showing it around this time…" I voice jokingly, _I'm glad… am I?_ The memory makes me blush.

"Shut up…" Eli flustered a bit too. "I won our race and that's what matters." I rolled my eyes jokingly, she took a deep breath before she stood up. "Well, you did cheered me up…" She extended her hand to me to help me stand up. "Thank you." She voiced with honesty as she gave me a smile, I look away from her but I still smiled. "I was kind of down after seeing Honoka, Umi and… well, you are right. We still have a school to save." She smiled at me.

"N-no worries…" _Why do I have to blush? Not fair._ I started to curl my hair when I felt her hand on my shoulder.

"Seriously, I'm thankful." We locked our eyes… she hesitated for some reason. "It's not like-"

"Ouch!" I voiced jokingly, making Eli freak out a bit as she took her hand off my shoulder.

"S-Sorry, I forgot!" I laughed at her worry, making her sigh with frustration, but then we giggled together.

"Anyways…" I can only trust something as shameful as this to Eli. "Everything alright?" Eli blinked twice.

"I'm fine, just saving up energy for today's meeting." Then she smiled again, _I'm so glad she feels better._

"If you say so… A-Anyway… I need you to give this to Honoka." I looked away from her as I gave her the CD… Eli seemed confused for a second as my cheeks grew redder. "I-It's just some calming music to help her relax, she needs to slow down!" I muttered, trying to hide my bashfulness… Eli just smiled wide. "W-What?!"

"You will never admit it Maki, but you can be very caring…" I opened my eyes wide in embarrassment and surprise. "And adorable…" She voiced with a smirk and I blushed even more. "And cute-"

"Now you are just being embarrassing!" I muttered to stop her stupid teasing as she giggled. "Let's just go!" I started to walk downstairs and she just followed me… _How dare you, Eli!_

"I was just teasing you-"

"I-I now that!" Eli giggled, I still couldn't hide my blush. We hear the bell ringing. "See? Now you will be late to your meeting!" I complained but the other girl was definitely having fun… "And you'll have more student council work for tomorrow! S-stop laughing!"

"Ah, but I have a very efficient stamper by my side." I gave Eli's grin an unamused look.

"Sheesh, I'm done with you! I have classes!" I walked away from Eli.

"I'll see you later, then. Hey!" I turned around. "Thank you… for the talk." She said with another smile.

"Stop it." I blushed and walked away, I could hear another giggle coming from Eli before she walked away too… I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I marched down the hallway… _It feels good to be able to cheer her up… mission accomplished, Maki… 'Caring… and adorable… and cute'_ the blonde's word resonated in my brain and I felt my face grew as red as a tomato once again. _Ugh, but I do hate her sometimes!_ I thought to myself as I barely made it to class on time.

"Where were you, nya?" Rin asked me when I rushed inside the classroom, she seemed entertained with my almost-late arrival.

"Let's begin today's lesson." The teacher stopped the classroom murmurs and our class started.

"I was… well, I'm here now." I whispered to Rin.

"We are visiting Honoka-chan after classes-"

"I know that…" I whispered once again, trying to focus on the class ahead.

"Just in case you-"

"I didn't forg-"

"Hoshizora, Nishikino." We flinched in surprise. "I'll have a word with you two after classes." We nodded to the teacher… then I gave Rin an angry look. I glanced at Hanayo who gave us a little smile.

"It wasn't my-"

"Shhh!" I silenced Rin for our own sake.

...

Class was over and our teacher was giving us a talk… we apologized and it wasn't a big deal. _I'm glad she let us go without giving us some extra work…_

"If you got to class on time-"

"I was there on time! If you didn't talked-"

"C-Come on, they must be waiting for us." Hanayo voiced nervously, she was just outside our classroom. Rin and I sighed.

"Kayo-chin knows it's your fault." Rin pointed out with a smirk, I inflated my cheeks with frustration.

"It was your-"

"See? I was right. They are there…" Hanayo said to distract our arguing as we stepped out of the building… she pointed at the entrance, we could see Eli and Umi standing there.

"Where are the others nya?" I shuddered my shoulders… They noticed our presence and turned around.

"Finally! What took you three so long?" Umi said, almost scolding us… _Ugh, not another scolding._ Rin and I looked away.

"W-Well…" Hanayo muttered nervously.

"Maki-chan arrived late-"

"I did not!-"

"So I asked her about it and the teacher gave us a talk after class…" I gave Rin a challenging look… Eli and Hanayo giggled.

"Maki… late?" Umi wondered with one eyebrow up.

"I said that I was not late! Where are the others anyway?!" I muttered with frustration as I crossed my arms.

"Ah, they went ahead to buy Honoka's favorite bread… I told them to wait for us at the store." Eli explained and we started walking.

"I hope they got the right one…" Umi voiced out loud, making me roll my eyes.

"You all got lost or what?" Nico complained when we catch up to them. "Let's go already!" She led the way to Honoka's house so the eight of us marched together.

"So you got late to classes?" Eli asked me. "Sorry-"

"Maki-chan was late?" Nozomi gave me a smirk. "I wonder why…"

"I was not late! How many times do I have to say it?" I gave the two girls an angry look.

"The teacher even scolded her…" Eli explained with entertainment, I just had to roll my eyes.

"You two are so annoying-"

"Ah! But it was your fault, Elicchi." Nozomi pointed out with another grin.

"I-It wasn't-" Eli and I voiced simultaneously, Nozomi just giggled…

"At least you did managed to cheer Elicchi up… I knew I could trust you, Maki-chan." I blushed and I think Eli did too.

"Stop it! Go play with your cards, Nozomi." I snorted, crossing my arms once again.

"I would, but it's like my cards are not telling me something…" I rolled my eyes but then I realized Nozomi glancing down… I look at Eli, she was looking at the floor too.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" I asked the two girls. The blonde shook her hand.

"What? No! A-Ah, we got here… finally!" We arrived to Honoka's place and Eli jogged away, catching up with Kotori and Umi. Nozomi exchanged a look with me before she quickly followed the blonde. I furrowed my eyebrow as Kotori opened the store door with Eli and Umi following her. _That doesn't sound convincing…_

"Good afternoon, Miss Kousaka…" Umi voiced shyly.

"We want to apologize for causing so much trouble, miss. We hope Honoka is feeling better." Eli apologized to Honoka's mother.

"What are you talking about? I'm sure she was just too persistent and pushed too hard… that's how my daughter is." She gave us a smile, _well, she is not wrong…_ "Why don't you come in? I'm sure that would make her happy!" The older girls exchanged some looks.

"We would love that." Kotori said a bit shyly.

"W-We will wait outside, you all go see her." I voiced curling my hair… _I don't want to embarrass myself with the CD I made for her…_ I glanced at Eli who just smiled.

"B-But! We want to see her too, nya!" Rin complained.

"Shh, you caused enough trouble today!" I grabbed Rin's arm.

"Say hello to Honoka-chan for us." Hanayo said to the others with a smile before she followed us. The rest of the girls stepped inside the house.

"This is not fair-"

"Eight people visiting is too much, Rin. We shouldn't be a bother..." I looked away as Rin just snorted.

"She is right, Rin-chan… Ah! But Maki-chan owes you a ramen, don't you remember?" Rin jumped with excitement…

"I don't owe her anything! Sheesh…"

...

 **Eli's POV:**

We were all reunited around Honoka's bed. It seems like Honoka was feeling a lot better now, she said she would be back to school tomorrow. But the second year was blaming herself for ruining the concert.

"Nothing was ruined and it's not your fault, Honoka… is ours." I had to stop her.

"But…" Honoka muttered as I took Maki's CD out. _This is going to cheer her up._

"Here." She glanced up, I lend her the 'for Honoka' CD with a smile. "Maki played some relaxing songs on the piano to help you get better. Just rest-"

"Ah!" Honoka jumped out of the bed.

...

 **Back to Maki's POV:**

"You promised we would eat ramen when we finished our last concert, Maki-chan." I rolled my eyes.

"But we never finished the concert!-"

"Give me your wallet, nya-"

"Maki-chan! Thank you!" We glanced up to Honoka's window, she was waving at us with the CD on her hand. _Ugh… I guess she is feeling better?_

"What are you doing?" Eli grabbed one of Honoka's arms.

"You are sick!" Nico grabbed the other and they both pulled Honoka back inside… We could hear 'someone' coughing.

"Sheesh… that was her own fault, she shouldn't yell like that…" I crossed my arms, _I do hope she likes the music I recorded, though._

"She is just happy, nya!" Hanayo giggled.

"And Maki-chan gave her a CD." I blushed and snorted.

"I thought we were talking about ramen!"

...

 **Eli's POV:**

Well, the CD did cheer Honoka up… _but who wouldn't be happy about that?_ I found myself wanting a Maki CD for my own… I shook my head.

"I can't wait to be back, we need to keep practicing… m-maybe not this hard but… is something going on?" Honoka inquired, confused by Umi and Kotori's silence.

"Honoka. We can't perform in the Love Live." I decided there was no point in hiding this from her. "The director gave me a talk… we discussed it and decided to revoke our entry…"

"But-"

"It's not your fault Honoka, we pushed you too hard." Umi voiced but Honoka shook her head.

"N-no… I'm the one to blame, I should have rested…" Kotori gave Honoka a concerning look.

"No one is to blame, we were all responsible." I sat next to Honoka, but she didn't look up.

"Elichi is right. But now you should focus on getting better, Honoka-chan." Nozomi smiled calmly.

"Get better so we can save the school. That's our true goal as school idols, right?" Nico voiced, trying to inject some enthusiasm to the second year student.

 **...**

 **Back to Maki's POV:**

"I wonder what songs were in that CD…" Rin smirked at me.

"Actually… me too." Hanayo gave me a shy smile.

"Fine! We will go get ramen! Are you two happy?" I snorted, _stop embarrassing me!_

"Maybe there was a love song-" I hit Rin's head.

"Rin-chan!" Hanayo gasped.

"You deserve it." I crossed my arms.

"You are so mean, nya!-"

"What are you doing?" We turned around. Nico, Eli and Nozomi were back.

"How is Honoka-"

"Maki-chan is violent today!" I gave Rin another angry look, the others giggled.

"She is feeling a lot better, she will be back tomorrow." Eli explained with a smile, we smiled in response.

"Just like my cards said…" I rolled my eyes at Nozomi. "Umi-chan and Kotori-chan are staying with her for a bit."

"So… we all should go eat ramen together, right?" Rin voiced happily.

"I guess I do have some free time today…" Nico pretended she was busy.

"Of course you are free, this is our practice time." I voiced with annoyance.

"Ah, sorry. But Nozomi and I need to go back to school." I gave Eli a disappointing look, but she seemed actually sorry. "Paperwork." She explained simply. "Remember we have practice tomorrow-"

"So we should make the best out of our free day nya!" The girls giggled and I sighed.

"We will see you tomorrow!" Nozomi waved at us as she and Eli left.

"So… it's ramen time!" Nico shouted and ran away, followed by Rin… I sighed before Hanayo and I followed them too. _Sheesh, why Nico always tries to race Rin? She is always going to lose._

...

"So… what about Honoka? What did you talked with her?" I asked Nico when we left the ramen restaurant, she was avoiding the topic for some reason.

"We told her that we were leaving the Love Live competition." Nico answered simply as we walked.

"I-I thought we weren't going to tell her yet…" Rin voiced looking down.

"She must be so sad right now…" I knew Hanayo, Nico and Honoka were going to be especially hurt for not participating in the Love Live, they were so passionate about it.

"It can't be helped. Sooner or later she was going to find out." I pointed out.

"Sheesh… we were so close, we were almost there." Nico voiced with certain sadness and looked up to the sky.

"There's nothing we can do about it, so we shouldn't worry…" We all looked down to the floor. "And we are back to practice tomorrow, so that's good news, right?"

"Ah! Maki-chan is cheering us up!" Rin joked as I gave her an unamused look. The other girls laughed.

"Sheesh, I'm leaving! I'll see you all tomorrow." I crossed my arms, turning myself away from them.

"Bye, Maki-chan!" Hanayo voiced as I walked. I live in another direction from them so I just walked alone… I had to go to the hospital today, I looked up to the sky. _I'm glad I ate ramen… I would be hungry if I didn't, so I'll go take a bath and- oh._ I grinned when I noticed Eli and Nozomi were walking together just a few meters ahead. I walked in complete silence until I was almost behind them…

"So you think-"

"BOO." I voiced next to their ears and they jumped in surprise, making me laugh out loud. Nozomi gasped in relief when she saw it was just me. _This was pure gold!_

"A-are you crazy!?" Eli muttered with a hand on her chest while Nozomi giggled. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" I giggled this time.

"Sorry, it wasn't my intention." I smiled at the blonde, she gave me a serious look.

"It was totally your intention, Maki!" I shook my shoulders with a smile as Eli gave me a disapproving look. "Sheesh…"

"Not even Nozomi's fortune saw that coming, huh?" I said, mocking the other third year.

"Ah, I'm totally getting my revenge soon, Maki-chan." I covered my chest protectively because of the threat. "Ah, don't worry. That's not my issue anymore." Then Nozomi just walked away.

"What does that even mean?" I exchanged looks with Eli but she shuddered her shoulders.

"You really want me to grope you?" Nozomi smirked and I gasped in fear, she giggled. "I'm joking. I don't want Elichi to scold me later."

"I-I haven't said anything!" Eli muttered nervously. "And I never scold you, Nozomi." We had to laugh… _that almost sounded like a reprimand._

"You don't have to… so, is Maki-chan going to join us? We could use some help." The blonde glanced at me. "Right, Elichi?"

"S-Sure, you can even join us for dinner…" Eli voiced a bit shyly, I smiled… _yeah, and maybe I can figure out what's going on with Nozomi and-ah! But I can't._ "U-Unless you don't want to… you probably just ate ramen, I forgot-"

"It's not that, I just remembered that I have to go to the hospital… actually, I should go now." I sighed… "I wish I could help-"

"Ah, no worries then." The blonde responded. "You can always help us tomorrow." Eli gave me a wink.

"Hospital? Is everything alright?" I opened my eyes wide. Nozomi gave me a worried look, I glanced at Eli, asking for help. Nozomi looked at Eli, waiting for an explanation.

"D-don't look at me! Its Maki's business." Eli look away and Nozomi placed her eyes on me again.

"I j-just… F-fine! I just help there… sometimes." She blinked with surprise. "That's all."

"Huh? And why is that a secret?" I blushed. _It's not a secret but… I don't want people knowing about it!_ _I don't knowwhy!_ Nozomi smirked suddenly. "Ah… Maki-chan wearing a nurse uniform…"

"I-I don't wear that-"

"You must have a lot of fans there-"

"I don't! N-nozomi!" I snorted with frustration as Eli giggled nervously.

"It's her family's hospital so she helps out there from time to time." The blonde tried to help me out explaining the situation, I looked away.

"Ah, have you been spying on her, Elicchi? Can I go too?" We opened our eyes wide.

"What's wrong with you?!" I asked crossing my arms with embarrassment. _Ugh, Nozomi…_

"I was just joking, Maki-chan. You are overreacting…" _I can't believe her!_ "Well, we have work to do too. Good luck, Maki-chan." And just like that she left.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Eli smiled awkwardly.

"Sure… I can help you two out then. I-I mean, if you need it?" Eli smiled. "W-what?"

"You worry too much-"

"Hey, that's my line…" We giggled. "Whatever… goodbye." I walked away as she waved at me.

...

 **Eli's POV:**

I waited there until I couldn't see Maki anymore… I always felt the need to accompany her, just in case. But of course she is not letting me do that… so I entered my building.

"N-Nozomi!" She was waiting for me next to the elevator.

"What took you so long?" Nozomi smirked. "Is Maki-"

"We were talking about your cards…" I had to stop her, _you are not teasing me right now, Nozomi._ "What's going on? You have been acting weird." I was definitely concerned at this point.

"I told you… good things might happen." We entered the elevator. "But then…"

"But what?" I gave her a smile. "You are reading too much into it… Honoka is back and I'm sure we can figure something out to keep the school from closing, right? Things can change, I've told you that." But Nozomi was pensive still. "Cheer up, Nozomi. The nine of us will be together again tomorrow!" I gave her a smile and she just nodded in response. _Sheesh, she is too worried about that bad augury she has… I just hope her cards are wrong._

* * *

 **So, i now it's taking me a bit to get to were I want to. But I just can't seem to make myself rush the story and i'm having fun writing so... hope it's enjoyable. For now there will be mostly 'only' friendship things happening, but don't worry, that will change! It will just take me a bit to get there haha (but i will, trust me) Also: sorry if things might seem a bit predictable now. Wow and the chapter ended a lot longer than i thought haha. Thanks again for the reviews/follows/views, i appreciate it a lot! PS: i know i have to reread all chapters and fix some likely typing/grammar mistakes... i'll do that soon*  
**

 ***i hope.**


	9. Chapter 9 - Nothing

**New chapter (roller-coaster alarm) Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them! PS: first chapter after the final live...**

* * *

 **Nothing**

The day started and it was like nothing had changed: Honoka was back to school! She was feeling a bit down because of the Love Live, but she was eager to practice with us once again. If I'm being honest, I kind of missed our school idol practice too… _but no one needs to know that, Maki._ Also, today I spent another lunch break working as the 'official student council stamper', _that's what Eli and Nozomi said at least,_ I shook my head with a smile _._ I was walking down the hallway with Rin and Hanayo, we just finished our classes so we were excited to go to the roof with the others. _Wait, did I said 'we' were excited? Not-_

"H-He… help!" _Huh?_ Rin and I turned around… Hanayo was frozen reading something from the school billboard. _Great! Now what?_

"What's going on, Kayo-chin?" The other second year walks next to Hanayo… "Nya!" Rin shouts in front of the paper, I sighed loudly.

"What's wrong with you two?" I had to see what was going on… _it's just some school news._ I snorted but I decided to read too: _'A notice for next year applicants. We are happy to announce our survey result: the new potential applications were overwhelming-' W-what!? The… what!?_

"We have to tell them, nya!" Rin ran away and we quickly followed her. It was like we were flying upstairs, _I can't believe we did it!_ "Ah!" We screamed when we opened the door.

"What's going on?" Honoka asked as they walked towards us, they were certainly confused.

"So- someone… help us!" We were panting heavily, _this looks so dramatic! We shouldn't have ran like this… but… we did it._ I managed to catch my breath.

"Follow us!" I voiced running downstairs, the rest of the girls followed my lead. I got to the news billboard and I smiled… _I can't wait to see their faces!_ But... they just stood there looking at me with a worried face like… _I am not crazy!_

"Maki are you alr-"

"Read this!" I pointed at the informative paper: they were still confused but came closer to read the news. _Sheesh, these people…_

"Notice for next year applicants…" Honoka stopped reading and gasped loudly.

"Honoka, I can't read!" Umi tried to move the other girl.

"I-Is this what I think it is?!" Nico asked as she, Eli and Nozomi turned around to face us. I crossed my arms, giving them a smile.

"There are way more applicants than last year." I explained simply as Honoka and Umi turned around too.

"S-so-"

"The school?-"

"Won't be closed!" Nozomi exclaimed in realization.

"W-We did it!" Nico voiced happily as they exchanged the enthusiasm with some looks.

"So we are having juniors, nya!" Rin hugged Hanayo.

"Well… I'm not sure I'm happy about that-"

"Maki-chan, stop lying to yourself!" Nozomi smirked at me, _why would I want more people-_

"Kotori-chan!" Honoka suddenly ran as Kotori just appeared down the hallway so the girl pulled the other into a big hug. "We did it, Kotori-chan! We saved the school!" We smiled at the scene… _we did save the school after all… we? Mostly Honoka, actually._ I glanced around to see Eli cleaning a tear, _sheesh Eli…_ I smiled at the blonde, s _he did her best to save the school too. Even though she was pretty stubborn at first._

...

"I'm so happy nya!" Rin, Hanayo, Nico and I were walking together, we all decided to meet at the entrance after today's practice to 'celebrate' "Huh? But where is Kotori-chan and Umi-chan?" _Hmm… there's only Honoka and Eli here._ "And Nozomi-chan nya?"

"Nishikino Maki-san!" _Huh? Ah…_ I didn't see Arisa behind Eli until now, the younger girl is giving me a big smile.

"A-Ah… Arisa-chan, how are you?" I blushed at her happy reaction, she was way too excited. Rin and Hanayo glanced at her with curiosity.

"Hanayo, Rin, this is my little sister: Arisa-"

"Hoshizora-san, Koizumi-san! I am a huge fan of Muse's and I'm so happy to be able meet you." Arisa voiced politely but with excitement, making Hanayo blush heavily and Rin smile wide. I glanced at Eli, she just sighed.

"Nya! A f-fan? We are more than happy to meet you! Right, Kayo-chin?" Hanayo nodded nervously. I moved around with embarrassment. "Don't worry, they are just shy nya!" Rin explained, making Arisa smile again. _I-I'm not shy!_ Eli giggled.

"Well… Nozomi had to go to the shrine, Umi said she was busy and…" The blonde glanced at Honoka, the second year was unusually quiet. "Kotori had to go shopping, so… I think we should postpone our lunch." Honoka shook her head.

"Hmm… alright then… we can go tomorrow, right?" Honoka voiced with a sudden smile.

"Sheesh… alright! First years." Nico gave us a serious look, _first years? First years what?_ Then glanced at Honoka and Eli. "We will see you tomorrow." Then she grabbed Hanayo and ran inside the school.

"S-someone… save me!-"

"Kayo-chin! It was nice to meet you, Arisa-chan." Then Rin grabbed my arm as she quickly followed Nico and Hanayo.

"W-What's going on!?" I barely muttered as Rin was making me run, I look back to see Arisa waving happily at us as Honoka and Eli seemed... at least as confused as me. _Why is Nico running away!? This is-_ Nico suddenly stopped, Hanayo sighed in relief next to her.

"Why are you kidnapping Kayo-chin, nya?!" Nico gave us a serious look, then she glanced to the entrance… we couldn't see Honoka and the others. Nico returned her eyes to us.

"What else? I need some help from the three of you!" _Sheesh, this can only mean one thing: trouble_ … "As the president of our club I need to make sure we have the correspondent victory party."

...

And… that's how Hanayo, Rin and I ended up in a store with Nico. "We are having a celebration tomorrow… and you can't stop us, Nishikino!" I gave Nico an angry look.

"I wasn't going to-"

"As the president, I'm responsible for lifting up the spirits after a huge achievement like this, Nico Nico-Nii! Having a positive party will only take us closer to the stardom-"

"Don't you think you are exaggerating?" The girl just ignored my comment.

"We need to focus on our next Love Live, but we first need to appreciate our accomplishments if we want to succeed later! Team! Let's go, I'll get the snacks!" Then Nico quickly ran away as Rin and Hanayo exchanged some exited looks, _of course they had to be excited about a party…_

"I'll go get the rice, I can even bring my rice cooker!" Hanayo suddenly ran away too. _Rice, of course._

"We will need some decorations too, nya!" I blinked in surprise. "And ramen!" _What's. Going. On?_

"I…" Now… now I'm standing all alone. I crossed my arms as I sighed, _I wasn't going to stop them but maybe I should have!_ "Sheesh…"

After a couple of minutes? Hours? I wouldn't know how long it took, but the four of us were reunited again.

"Rin-chan, I was starting to get worried!" Hanayo complained to the other girl.

"I got some balloons and party decorations! Also colored chalk and… some noodles!" I noticed the amount of things they had in their hands… _this is a lot of stuff for a party for nine people._

"Well, I got the glasses and snacks, I'll make some of my famous sandwiches too." Nico was checking out the list she had on her hand. _Well, she did planned all this…_

"And I got the rice!" Hanayo voiced happily.

"Don't you think that's too much... f-forget it?" I thought about it better: never mess with Hanayo and her 6 pounds of rice.

"Well… we have everything! Let's go to the cashi-oh." Nico stopped suddenly… then she exchanged concerned looks with Rin and Hanayo.

"Great, now what?" I crossed my arms, _more decorations? More snacks? We definitely don't need more rice…_

"How are we going… to pay for this, nya?" They all glanced down with the realization… _They really got way too much stuff for just a small celebration._ They were looking around thinking about what they could leave behind… but everything seems essential for their 'party'. I sighed loudly, _alright then…_

"I'll pay for it." I voiced simply as I walked past them… _Who am I to burst their happy bubble? Huh?_ I turn around. They were... frozen there, until they suddenly smiled and I blushed intensively. "W-what? Come on, I-it's not a big deal!"

"Maki-chan!" Hanayo and Rin ran to hug me, making me blush even more. "You do care about our party!"

"I knew accepting your application for joining the Muse's will come handy someday." Nico cleaned a tear dramatically.

"I-I was part of the Muse's before you even-Ugh! Forget about it! Let's just go." I turned around with Hanayo and Rin still grabbing my arms… I rolled my eyes but I couldn't stop a silly smile from showing up. _This is so stupid…_

—

"Hmm, hmm." Hanayo was humming cheerfully while drawing some stuff on the club's blackboard, I rolled my eyes.

"And why are we the only ones decorating the club-room if it was Nico-chan's idea?" I was standing on a chair, putting some decorations on the walls.

"Nico-chan said she needed to practice her speech for today." _Like that makes sense..._ I sighed loudly.

"She left the hard work for us! I should have guessed it." I snorted but then I continued with my work. "And where's-"

"What's going on here?" I flinched and stumbled on the chair. "M-Maki-" Someone grabbed me by the waist just in time. _T-that was close…_ I felt my face get hot with embarrassment as I saw Eli still with her hands on me. "Be careful! What are you even doing?" I could see Nozomi smirking behind her.

"Clumsy Maki-chan." I flushed even more at Nozomi's words.

"I-I'm not-Y-you can let me go now Eli!" Eli took a step back from me as the two girls took a look around smiling. I crossed my arms and sighed, _what a successful surprise._

"I decorated the Alpaca barn nya!" Rin voiced happily as she entered the club-room. "It's… Oh." She voiced as she noticed Eli's and Nozomi's presence.

"Are we having a party?" Nozomi asked cheerfully, I sighed for the hundred time today.

"Well, I guess the 'surprise' is ruined." I attached the last decoration before turning around.

"S-Surprise?" The blonde asked as I jumped out of the chair. "Maki be careful-"

"I'm not a baby, Eli…" I complained to the blonde as I blushed, _it was their fault for entering so suddendly!  
_

"You almost fell-"

"But Elicchi saved you." Nozomi said calmly as she stood in the center of the room, looking at the blackboard. _Shut up, Nozomi…_ "Nice drawing, Hanayo-chan." Hanayo smiled happily, Eli took a look too but then she shook her hands.

"Okay, okay, why are we-"

"What's going on?" _Success!_ It was Umi's voice this time as she, Honoka and Kotori entered the room. "What's this? Isn't time to practice?" Honoka smiled wide.

"Are we having a party?!" Honoka asked with excitement, Nozomi nodded in response. I gave myself a face palm… _And where is-_

"The president is back! Are you done? Should I go look for the others-w-what!?" Nico took a step back in surprise as I gave her an unamused look, the third year opened her eyes wide and gave me an angry look. "Why are they here?! This was a surprise, Maki!"

"W-Why are you blaming me? What took you so-"

"Okay! Fine!" Nico took a deep breath. "Let me explain the situation: As the president and founder of this club… I, Nico Nico-Ni, invite you all to our first victory party!" I sighed while the rest of the girls smiled or laughed.

"I think it's too late to call it an 'invitation' nya!" Rin giggled this time.

"So Nicocchi was the mastermind…" Nozomi voiced, smiling at the girl.

"L-Let's just fill our glasses!" Nico muttered as the others laughed. I had to giggle too… _this has to be the worst surprise party ever…_ "Nico Nico-ni!" _Sheesh, is time for the famous speech I guess…_ "As the club president, I would like to say a few words…" Nico voiced solemnly, I just rolled my eyes while Eli and Nozomi smiled. Hanayo, Honoka and Rin just clapped with excitement. "It was my great idea to have this party, as the president, it was my responsibility. I still remember when you all came to me… I think it's thanks to that moment that we achieved what we achieved today." Nico glanced down with her eyes closed dramatically. "We are here reunited after just a few months of forming the group, thanks to-"

"Cheers!" We all voiced with our glasses up.

"Hey! I wasn't finished!" Nico shouted but she put her glass up too. We all giggled at our own silliness. I smiled at the scene: _I still can't believe we managed to save the school._ I look around... _Sheesh, we are such a weird group of people._ I drink some juice to hide my smile.

...

 **Eli's POV:**

"Rice is ready!" Hanayo voiced happily. _That's… that's just a lot of rice, Hanayo._ I smiled wide at the girls sitting around the table, eating and chatting.

"It's a relief, right Elichi?" I glanced at Nozomi, she was sitting next to me.

"You are right… it's like a weight has left my shoulders… our shoulders." I look at my glass with a smile.

"Aren't you glad that we joined the Muse's?" Nozomi grinned at me.

"You do want me to admit it, don't you?" Nozomi smiled, I just took a glance at the rest of the Muse's members… "Honestly, I think they would have succeeded even if I didn't joined them."

"You are wrong there. The cards tell me we needed nine members exactly, we made it because we worked together." She gave me a tender smile. "Nine Muse's is what we needed." I giggled as took a sip of juice.

"I guess you are right…" I couldn't stop myself from smiling wide.

"But still…" I glanced at Nozomi… she had that worried face again.

"Our school is not going to close! But we still need to work hard…" I could hear Honoka muttering to herself. _Honoka deserves so much credit,_ I thought as I smiled at the girl. _She did proved me wrong._ "Kotori-chan?" I followed Honoka's glance… apparently Umi is... comforting Kotori? _W-what's going on? They don't seem happy… like, at all._ I blinked… _something is definitely not right._

"Kotori…" Umi stood up to face us. _This is…_ I notice Maki giving me a concerned look over her shoulder.

...

 **Back to Maki's POV:**

"We are sorry, but there's something we need to talk about…" I returned my eyes to Umi.

"You knew about this?" I could hear Nozomi whispering Eli... I peek behind my shoulder to see the blonde shaking her head. I look at Umi once again, _this… looks like bad news._

"I know this is sudden but… I'll be clear: Kotori is leaving." Umi paused for a second, there was pure silence. "She has decided to study abroad… she will be leaving in two weeks." I blinked in surprise… _Kotori… leaving?_

"Is this a joke nya?-"

"W-what do you mean?" Nico asked with seriousness. Kotori looks down to the floor…

"It's an opportunity I had that is related to fashion design… I-I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you sooner but…" Her words didn't came out.

"Kotori wanted to tell you after the school festival." I decided to turn around, Honoka was just behind me… I couldn't see her face since her hair was covering it, I gulped. _I… what…_

"You are not coming back, are you?" Eli suddenly asked.

"No… not after I graduate from high school." This time I was the one looking to the floor… _The Muse's without Kotori? That's… not right._

"Why…" I flinched when I realized Honoka stood up just behind me. "Why didn't you told me? Umi-chan knew! Why…" Honoka walked slowly to Kotori and crunched in front of her, grabbing the other girl hands. "We have been together for so long! Why are you-"

"Honoka." Umi voiced, trying to stop the words coming out from Honoka. But it didn't work.

"Why are you leaving us?! I-I don't understand!" Honoka muttered helpessly.

"Honoka-chan..." Nozomi said softly.

"I-I tried to tell you… plenty of times… but you were too focused on…" Tears started to fell from Kotori's eyes. "I wanted your advice, but then you got sick and…" Her voice just cracked.

"We are best friends, why-"

"I wanted to talk with you! So many times… I tried, Honoka-chan. You are my very first friend but I… of course I wanted to tell you!" Kotori shouted as she ran away from the room with tears falling from her eyes.

"K-Kotori-chan!" Honoka voiced, tears were coming out of her eyes too.

"Kotori really wanted to tell you, Honoka… but after the concert she just couldn't. She felt like she didn't had any other choice… please try to understand her." With that said Umi just left the room… at that point, it felt like time stopped. Honoka cleaned her eyes just for more tears to fall again.

"W-wait!" Honoka ran out of the room too. We exchanged some worried looks as we stood there, frozen.

"What are we… we need to do something!" Nico shouted with frustration, breaking the silence and looking at Nozomi and Eli. Instinctively we all looked at them… but they were as shocked as us.

"I guess… This is what my cards have been trying tell me for a while…" Nozomi looks down too.

"Nozomi… T-Then I'll go talk to them!" Nico left the room in a hurry.

"Nicocchi… w-wait." Nozomi tried to stop the girl, but it was no use. Eli stood up too.

"B-but… we can't stay here! Let's go Kayo-chin!" Hanayo was sobbing silently but Rin pulled her up and left the room with her, following Nico… I felt my body was frozen, I was looking at Eli… she had her fist pressed and I could almost see her brain trying to figure this out. _They are eager to fix this but… but can it be fixed? I-I… don't think so... Kotori is leaving?  
_

"What are we going to do, Elicchi?" Nozomi stood next to the blonde.

"W-we can figure something up, right?" I dared to ask… even though I knew the answer already.

"I… I don't think there's something we can do." Eli voiced simply, then she took a deep breath. "If it's decided then… we have no say in this." Nozomi glanced down only to look up at the girls entering the club-room again.

"They are nowhere to be seen!" Nico shouted angrily with Hanayo and Rin behind her. "We need to do something!"

"Nicocchi…" Nozomi voiced helplessly… I glanced at Hanayo, she was close to tears again. _Our group…_ I woke myself up from my shock as I stood up too, so we were all standing around the table. Eli was the one who broke the silence.

"I… Kotori made a decision, Nico… and she is our friend, so we need to be there for her. That's all we can do: be there for her." Eli crossed her arms, looking down to the floor… Nico kicked with frustration a plastic glass.

"But we need to talk to them… or do something, right?" Rin asked even though the situation was… really bad.

"I propose we do a concert with her… it's the least we can do and we only have two weeks." Eli looked around. "I know it's sudden…"

"I think is a good idea." Nozomi agreed with a sad smile.

"We can talk to them tomorrow nya! I'm sure Kotori-chan will be happy... She deserves the best farewell, nya!" We all nodded in agreement. _Farewell? I guess this is it… there's nothing else to do._

—

Next day we were all reunited in the roof… well, everyone except Kotori and Honoka.

"So… you all want to do a concert for Kotori?" Umi smiled even though her eyes were watering. "I… She would love that… but Honoka-"

"I'll go look for her!" Eli offered cheerfully and left the roof.

"I don't think Honoka is feeling good." Umi explained with concern. _I don't think any of us is feeling good… but I can't quite picture how Honoka and Umi are feeling right now._

"Then is our job to cheer her up! We are school idols after all, that's what we do." Nico was in a good mood… but I had a bad feeling in my gut. I glanced at Nozomi… she seems down too. _Don't tell me her cards are expecting more bad news? Is that even possible?_ Eli came back with Honoka, so the blonde explained the plan to her.

"A concert?" Honoka asked simply.

"We want to do a concert before she leaves-"

"And make it the best concert ever for her!" Rin tried to spread some cheerfulness. Honoka just kept her eyes down to the floor.

"Honoka… are you okay?" Umi asked the other second year.

"We need to keep our spirits up, Honoka. This will be our last concert with nine members." Eli said that with a half smile but… _are we even the Muse's if we only have eight members?_ I shook my head to forget about the thought.

"If I had done something… this is all my fault-"

"Hey, Honoka!" Nico stopped the other girl.

"This is not your fault, Honoka-chan." Hanayo said nervously.

"If I had done something this wouldn't have happened! Don't you see?" The second year said angrily, _it's so unusual to see Honoka like this…_ I could almost feel her pain.

"What good comes out of blaming yourself?" Eli asked sharply. "Nothing, Honoka."

"A-and we still have a chance in the next Love Live, right?" I thought the mention of 'love live', the words Honoka shout happily a thousands of times, will have a positive reaction in her. Nico smiled… but there was no change in Honoka's face.

"That's right! We will definitely perform next time-"

"Why? We already saved the school, so what's the point now?" We all flinched at her words, _Honoka…_

"W-What? What are you saying, Honoka!?" Nico asked angrily. "Tell me you are joking!"

"It's impossible, we will never be good enough-"

"You can't be serious!" Nico was ready to end with Honoka right there, I managed to stop the girl just in time. "Let me go!" Nico voiced, trying to escape from my arms, _enough bad things are happening… we can't have more fighting too!_ "You told me you were serious! I joined because you never gave up, so what are you doing, ah?! What kind of school idol are you?!" I could hear Hanayo gasping. "I gave you my hopes and dreams, for what!? For you to just give up?!" The girl suddenly stopped moving but I wasn't going to let her go, I kept my arms around her. _Nico… I know how important being a school idol is for her, and to see Honoka like this… this is just painful._

"What do you want to do, Honoka?" Eli asked seriously… I turned around but I kept my hands on Nico's shoulders.

"I quit." _W-what?_ I held my breath in shock. "I quit being a school idol." Then Honoka proceeded to walk away until Umi suddenly stopped her, she grabbed her wrist and… slapped her. I opened my eyes wide, _don't fight like this! Please…_

"I would never… you are the worst, Honoka. You are the worst!" Umi muttered, almost crying. We all just stood there… shocked by the harshness in Umi's voice. Honoka touched her cheek for a second…

"T-That's what you think? Fine! I'm done!" And… just like that, Honoka left. I took a step back. _H-Honoka… Umi…_ Tears were falling from her eyes now.

"I… I have archery practice." Umi left us too… _is that it? This is how our group is going to end?_ We just stood there in silence but this time we all avoided the other girl's eyes… _This can't be happening…_

"I'll go to the club room." Nico was the one walking away this time. She punched the door on her way out, she was definitely upset.

"Nicocchi…" Nozomi quickly followed Nico. I turn around to look at Hanayo… she was crying, Rin tried to comfort her... but Rin was close to tears too. I bite my lip as I turn my gaze to Eli, she was looking down. _Seeing Honoka and Umi fighting like this…_ I felt a pain in my stomach.

"We will… go to the bathroom, nya." I have never heard Rin talking with such a sad tone… so Hanayo and Rin walked away too. That's when I realized what I was feeling: I felt true fear… _are we losing ourselves? Are we losing the friends we made? Kotori… Honoka… Umi…_ I gulped.

"I will go to the music room-"

"Maki." I turned around to look at Eli, we locked our eyes. "Can I go with you? Music helps me think... and I need to think fast right now." I blinked… but then I just nodded. _There's nothing we can do… this is just bigger than us._ We walked silently to the music room… The memory of the slap sound between two best friends almost made me shiver. I walked to the piano until I noticed Eli stood there next to the door, lost in her own thoughts.

"W-what do you want to listen?" I asked simply, trying to distract my mind from what just happened.

"I need to figure this out…" _But there's nothing to figure out…_ "I-I…"

"Eli… just sit." If there was something I could do right now… that was playing some music. Eli hesitated but then she sat in one of the chairs, facing the piano. I sat down and I took a deep breath... Then I just started playing whatever music came to my mind… mostly sad music, but I couldn't help it. I let myself get lost in the tunes for a bit, I played a couple songs. But then… _Muse's…_ my throat started to shut. _We are…_ that's when I stopped playing. _Kotori is leaving, Umi and Honoka are fighting…_ I gulped as Eli stood up.

"I could talk to Honoka and Umi. That could help, I don't think she was thinking clearly, right?" I shuddered my shoulders as I avoided her blue eyes. I didn't wanted to be the pessimist but… "I mean, they are best friends…"

"We still need Kotori, though… I can't picture the Muse's with one less member. And I think they can't picture themselves without her, too." I voiced with honesty… _The Muse's… we are over. We are done._

"Then I could…" The blonde was moving impatiently. "I could try…" I glanced at her this time… her eyes were watered and I had to look away or mines would get like that too.

"I can't picture our group without Honoka, or without Kotori… or without you, or anyone, actually. I just can't, I don't think that would work." I placed my eyes on the piano keys. "It just doesn't feel right, we all need each others." I voiced with honestly, still trying to keep it together.

"I… Yeah… I-I think you are right-" I glanced at Eli for a second… she was barely holding her tears and I had to look away once again. "We should go-"

"I will stay for a bit." I turn my back to her, I couldn't look at her blue eyes… I just couldn't. I needed to stop my thoughts right now.

"Are you sure-"

"Yes." I sat down and I quickly placed my fingers on the keys, I just started playing… I was decided not to cry. Eli hesitated… but then she walked away. She close the door behind her and I just kept playing… I closed my eyes. _Everything is a mess, that's for sure. But Maki… you are not crying._ I started to play once again.

 _..._

 **Eli's POV:**

I closed the door but I could still hear Maki music… I rested my back against the wall… then I slowly sat down there. I couldn't hold the tears anymore, so I just wrapped my arms around my knees and rested my head on them, then I cried... I just couldn't stop. _I feel so close to all of them… and I don't want the Muse's to end but, what can we do? Without Kotori or Honoka… or Umi._ I couldn't even picture how the second years were feeling right now, I just kept listening to Maki's piano. _It's terrifying to see them arguing like this… And I just wish I could do something._ I took a deep breath. _But we need nine members to be the Muse's. I definitely need to talk to them, but… we were doing so well! We just saved the school-_

"E-Elicchi… what are you doing?" I hear Nozomi's sudden whisper. I turned around, there's no point in hiding my tears to her… her eyes were watered too. She sat next to me so we just sitting there, shoulder to shoulder, listening to Maki's music… _'It just doesn't feel right.', 'nine members exactly, we made it because we worked together.'_ Maki and Nozomi were right.

"I have decided… that we need to take a break. Without Kotori, Honoka and Umi… there's no Muse's anymore." I hated the words that just came out of my mouth, we exchanged some looks.

"I… I think you are right. There's nine Muse's, no more and no less." I nodded. "But Nicocchi…"

"How is she? I know, she is not going to take it well. But we will still be there for each other, we also need to be there for Umi and Honoka." Nozomi gave me a tender smile as she cleaned her tears, soothing music still playing in the background.

"She was… upset. But yes, we will always be there for them… and now you need to stop crying Elichi or I won't be able to stop too." I giggled as I cleaned my face.

"You know I can be a crybaby sometimes…" Nozomi giggled too.

"Sometimes?" We laughed silently.

"It's just that… seeing them in an argument like this after the sadness that will come without Kotori…" I couldn't say more. _When did things started to go downhill?_

"I think is because of that same sadness… but the sun always comes after a storm, Elicchi." I sighed deeply… _her piano sounds so beautiful, though._ _It's the only positive thing I feel right now._ "At least we have Maki's music, right?" I nodded slowly.

"Is calming isn't?" Nozomi nodded this time. "I know she wants to pretend she is strong and all, but I know she is hurting too." Nozomi laughed a bit. "Huh? What did I said?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just think all of us are hurting right now… I guess the spirits are testing us." Both of us rested our heads against the wall. "But I know we all have an unbreakable friendship now, Elicchi." I nodded at her words, _Nozomi is always right, isn't she?_

"I think you are right… I just want to protect them." I voiced in a low tone.

"So do I… I'm sure things will get better." _I sure hope so, Nozomi…_ "Oh. Music stopped." We flinched for a second, _she is right._

"Well, time to cheer up." I voiced before we giggled together. _I hope we don't look like we were crying that much-_ that's when certain redhead opened the music room door, she is looking at us with her eyes wide open.

"W-what are you two doing here?!" Maki blushed intensively… so of course I smiled. "For how long have you two-"

"Long enough, Maki-chan." Nozomi and I stood up, facing Maki. "Long enough."

"Have I… I-I don't like you two!" I giggled at Maki crossing her arms with embarrassment. I was trying to figure if she was crying too… but I think she just expressed her feelings with the music. _She is a tough cookie._

"Where you expecting us to leave and not listen to your concert? That's not our style Maki-chan." Maki inflated her cheeks with frustration. "Besides, it was free."

"I have no privacy at all! Sheesh…" The redhead looked away as we laughed. _Thanks for the music, Maki…_

"You are right about that, we do want to see you in your nurse clothes-"

"I don't wear nurse clothes, Nozomi!" I laughed out loud this time… _these two… they make me smile._

"She is a pianist doctor, Nozomi. Have some respect." Maki rolled her eyes at my joke as I smirked.

"I'm just going to ignore you two…" She voiced, biting her lip.

"You shouldn't hold your laughter Maki. " I pointed out with a smile.

"It's bad for your soul, Maki-chan." The redhead exchanged some looks with us. I smiled at the younger girl… _I do loved watching her playing the piano._

"You two are dumb." She walked past us and we followed her.

"We are your seniors, Maki. Have some respect." Maki chuckled at my words as we walked away from school.

"I thought there were no seniors between us?" The three of us giggled at our silliness.

"You are right, there's just one junior and that is you, Maki-chan." Nozomi voiced calmly.

"That doesn't even make sense!" I had to laugh again… and just like that we kept walking and talking stupidly. _No more tears, at least for today._ "Have some respect, Nozomi." The three of us laughed at Maki mocking me.

"Maki learns fast…" I giggled again as Nozomi just smirked.

"Does she?-"

"So…" I had to cut Nozomi's words right away. I guess is time to talk about it. "I'll go talk to all of them tomorrow. I think the group needs to take a hiatus… It will do more harm than good to force things when the situation is a mess like this." I wanted to hear Maki's opinion on this so I looked at her.

...

 **Back to Maki's POV:**

"Yeah… I think it's for the best." _There's nothing left to do right now, but for some reason… the situation was scary, at least for me._

"We need things to cool off. I will consult my cards today…" We were now close to Eli's house… so I guess Nozomi is staying with her.

"Don't you consult your cards every day? I'm starting to think they give bad luck, Nozomi." I smirked at her as she gasped, Eli giggled nervously.

"How dare you, Maki-chan. We saved the school thanks to them…" Then Nozomi glanced at Eli. "Have some respect." This time it was Nozomi's turn to make fun of Eli, so we laughed out loud.

"Yeah, you two keep laughing… I'll wait here." But Eli giggled too, at this point we were in front of Eli's building.

"Well… I need to go buy some groceries. I'll see you two tomorrow." Nozomi gave us a... sad smile. So the depressing atmosphere was back.

"Goodbye then…" I voiced as Eli waved slowly. Tomorrow's mention made the situation sink in my brain… _it's going to be another bad day, isn't?_ I didn't noticed Nozomi was walking away already. _Officially the first day without Muse's…_

"Hmm… are you alright, Maki?" Eli was looking at me but I avoided her blue eyes.

"Of course I am, bye Eli." So I walked away too… I knew Eli stood there looking at me, that's what she does. _She worries too much_. I sighed deeply as I walked. _Having eight amazing friends and tons of happy moments? It was too good to be true… When I joined, I remember myself thinking that this wasn't going to last, but all of them made me slowly forget about that thought. Maybe I shouldn't have…_ I entered to my house, no one was there. _Without Muse's… I'm just lonely Maki once again. I guess there's no use…_

* * *

 **Yeah, this was a tricky chapter for me to write... it ended up longer than I thought (surprise!) and I went a lot of back and forward with it... I know is an angst-humor roller-coaster but I couldn't help it. It was a coincidence having so many parallelisms with the final live, I guess. Again: any thoughts are welcome! Btw, good luck in the SIF events if any of you are participating and I hope you are having a great day.**

 **Now, answering a few review questions: yes, the story will definitely continue after s1! Going through the s2 I'll add more things of my own... and after that I have a couple of things in mind, but we will see then! About Honoka: I totally understand the situation, her hard decision made a lot of sense given the circumstances imo.**

 **ALSO: the Elimaki UR pair is here! I REALLY wanted to post this chapter that day... but like i said, it was kind of tricky.**


	10. Chapter 10 - Wake up

**New chapter for Maki's birthday! :3**

 **EDIT: I JUST NOTICED A *BIG* FORMATTING PROBLEM WITH LINE BREAKS OMG... I AM MESS, IT TOOK ME 10 CHAPTERS TO NOTICE WOW (I make myself laugh) I AM GOING TO FIX THAT ASAP! ;-;  
**

 **Note: alright! I added the line breaks to all chapters... — (sorry again for that)**

* * *

 **Wake up**

Next day… well, it didn't felt as bad as yesterday, but it still felt like we had another hard day ahead. _'I think the group needs to take a hiatus'_ Eli's words resonated in my brain. She was right… but that didn't make the decision any easier. I stood up when we finished our classes.

"Maki-chan… We have practice today, right nya?" I sighed, I kind of avoided everyone today at lunch. _It's definitely not going to be easy for them…_

"I don't think that's the case." Hanayo and Rin flinched at my words, I couldn't hide the upcoming bad news in the tone of my voice.

"W-what do you mean?" Hanayo voiced shyly as I stepped out of the classroom, I could hear the other two girls following me.

"Well… Eli has something to say, so-"

"What does that mean, nya? Maki-chan!" Rin's voice made me turn around to face them… I sighed as I crossed my arms.

"Can you two imagine Muse's without Kotori, Honoka and Umi?" They exchanged some looks before they glanced down to the floor. "Exactly." I voice sharply before I turn around to walk upstairs.

"B-but… we have a purpose-"

"We already saved the school, Rin." _I know she isn't going to give up that easily_ , being a school idol is Hanayo's dream after all and Rin loves Hanayo.

"So what?!" Rin asked with some annoyance as I opened the roof door, the third years where there waiting for us. Nico turned around.

"You are late! Come on-"

"Nicocchi." Nozomi voiced simply, making Nico stop talking. She just gave the other third year a confused look.

"Since all of us are here… or almost." Eli started talking, it was obvious she was bringing bad news. "This is incredibly hard for me but I just think in the situation we are at… there's no other choice: we have three members less, no leader… what we should do is take a hiatus. We need some time to reflect." The two third years were looking at Nico with some concern. For a few seconds there was no sound to be heard.

"A hiatus?! We had to forget about the Love Live… and now this?!" Nico muttered, her tone was full of sadness and anger.

"I… This is what we need. Some time to think, Nico." The blonde voiced calmly, Rin and Hanayo were looking at the floor. Nico's fists were shaking with frustration as she had her eyes on Eli.

"To think? Or to give up?! Because that's what you are doing!" Nico shouted. _Just like Hanayo… being a school idol is Nico's dream so I knew they were in pain right now._

"I don't see the point in continuing like this. Without Honoka and the others… there's just no Muse's anymore." I voiced what it felt was my explanation. Nico was the one looking down this time. _The hiatus makes sense, is the right thing to do._ I sighed deeply, _but how can we go back to what we were?_ It looked impossible to me. _The nine of us used to have so much fun together. We also worked hard, but we were happy… And now there's nothing we can do about it._ "So… I'll see you tomorrow." I voiced, turning away from them…

"Maki-chan…" Rin said simply. _I just can't stay there in silence any longer, Rin..._ Hanayo and Nico's pain was almost palpable. So I closed the roof door behind me and I sighed once again… then I walked a couple of stairs down just to look up to the roof door. _I really wish things didn't had to end like this. It was good while it lasted, I guess…_ That's when Eli and Nozomi stepped out too, Eli gave me a sad half smile as Nozomi just stood there. The blonde walked a few steps before she noticed I was watching the other girl, who was frozen behind her.

"Nozomi?" Eli asked, making the other third year look up.

"You two think they are going to be okay?" Nozomi asked us.

"I…" I look away, _I don't know. I'm sure they are definitely not okay right now._

"They will, I am sure of that. So don't worry." Eli gave both of us a reassuring smile, _I guess she said that for both of us._

"Well… I have things to do." I voiced, leaving the two girls behind… I could feel their eyes on my nape but I kept walking away. I stood in front of the music room door… _Just you and the piano again, Maki. Just you and the piano._

—

 **Eli's POV:**

A couple of days passed since the Muse's started our hiatus. I was starting to regret making that decision ever since I saw Nico, Hanayo and Rin still practicing by themselves… _but what else I was supposed to do?_ I half smiled, _at least those three have an unstoppable spirit…_ weirdly enough: I wasn't worried about them, I was right when I said they were going to be ones to be alright. Honoka and Umi were still not talking and every time I tried to have a chat with them they just told me they were just okay, _and I know there's nothing I can do to make them feel better because what they need… what they need is Kotori. And she has been busy getting things ready._ _But I'm not giving up on them… I'm sure they just need some time to process their feelings._ Nozomi is still feeling a bit down, but after seeing Nico still passionate about being an idol her mood lifted a bit. Besides, she was distracted helping reconstruct some part of her beloved shrine.

 _Maki, on the other hand…_ I snorted with frustration, _she is not only been avoiding Hanayo and Rin… She is been avoiding everyone! Going to the library at lunch and to the music room after classes, telling me and everyone to go ahead so she can walk alone…_ I know what's going on in that little head of hers, or at least I have the feeling. _She needs to talk with someone and… I will have to be that someone. I can't let her shut herself out like this… we all are still friends. The situation is painful enough as it is, I can't just sit and watch Maki isolate herself too._ I shook my head as I realized I was… Well, I wasn't doing any work at all. I quickly stood up, grabbing some documents and materials before I stepped out of the student council office. _I am here alone and she is definitely there alone too… this time I will convince-hmm?_

"Aishiteru banzai!" The voice I quickly recognized made me stop and flinch.  
"Koko de yokatta… watashitachi no ima ga koko ni aru." A huge smile appeared in my face.  
"Aishiteru banzai!" Maki wasn't only playing today… _she is singing too._  
"Hajimatta bakari ashita mo yoroshiku ne mada gooru janai." Not only that, but this was the very first song I heard Maki sing…

 **Eli's flashback:**

 _Okay, finally collected all the club's initial petitions. I can't believe I had to extend the deadline!_ I was walking down the hallway in a hurry. _I hope Nozomi is ready for a long day of work… even though we are only-huh?_ A piano melody made me stop my steps. _What's that?_ _It's the first time I hear someone playing the piano here…_ We don't even have a music club since I entered the school, I furrowed my eyebrow.

"Daisuki da banzai!" _That voice…_ I blinked twice before I walked once again, following the song almost automatically. I peek inside the music room.

"Makenai yuuki watashitachi wa ima o tanoshimou." A redhead is singing and playing the piano… I was certainly moved. _It's beautiful._

"Daisuki da banzai!" She is definitely a new junior… _and a very talented one._ I couldn't stop myself from watching, it was hypnotizing.

"Ganbarerukara kinou-" I flinched when the voice and piano suddenly stopped. The redhead sighed and shook her head, then she apparently started to write something somewhere... later on, she placed the pencil in her mouth and played the piano… until she stopped and nodded. The girl grabbed the pencil again… S _o she is not only a great pianist and singer, she is a composer too?_ I was certainly impressed.

"Aishiteru banzai!" I just stood there with a smile, listening to the live song. _She is incredible…_ it had to be the best concert I've been because the music felt so… real. _Her voice is beautiful, too… and so is-_

"Elicchi?" I jumped in surprise, Nozomi was just a few steps away. I glanced with worry at the redhead but she was still immersed in her own music. I sighed in relief before I jogged to Nozomi. "What is that singing?"

"Ah! I'm not sure-"

"Were you spying?" Nozomi smirked and I blushed intensively. "It does sound-"

"O-Of course I wasn't! It's just a new student, I guess… Come on, we have work to do." I walked past her in a rush… _I was spying?_ Suddenly I got very flustered, it wasn't my intention at all but… _but that girl is something else._ "I finally collected all the club's-stop looking at me like that!" _Ugh, Nozomi is going to tease me with this for a while, isn't she?_

"I don't know what you are talking about… Oh, I need to consult my cards as soon as possible today." I rolled my eyes as we entered the office, I couldn't hear the music anymore… and I found myself missing that voice.

 **End of flashback, back to Eli's POV:**

After that day… I 'visited' Maki a few times, even though I didn't knew her name at that time. She didn't sing every day, it was mostly just her and the piano… but it was incredibly calming for me. I wouldn't say that I was spying on her, I just casually walked around there from time to time… I loved her music too much. It was something magical how I witnessed the developing of Maki's song until she finished it. That happened a few months ago, but it felt like a lot had happened since then. _Now the mysterious pianist is my friend… and so are the persistent second year, the strict archer, the calm designer, the shy rice fan and the energetic first year._

"Daisuki da banzai!" My smile couldn't get any bigger, watching Maki on her element was always something to appreciate.  
"Ganbarerukara kinou ni te o futte hora… mae muite..." She took a deep breath after she finished the song, then her gaze turned to-I opened my eyes wide and I gulped as Maki blushed and quickly stood up. _I-I guess I got caught…_

"W-What do you think you are doing?" She opened the door with an angry and embarrassing look in her face. I was probably a bit flustered too. "You were spying on me, Eli… again!" She placed her hands on my shoulder and started to push me away softly, she was just too embarrassed.

"I just-I was-hmm… I wanted to talk to you." I voiced that with seriousness as I turned around to face Maki again, she avoided my eyes and glanced at the stuff on my hand.

"You needed some help?" She started to curl her hair and I had to smile, that gesture of hers always made her look adorable.

"Not really… I just wanted to… hmm." Her eyes finally meet with mine. "I actually wanted to give you some company but also talk to you, so-"

"Where's Nozomi? I-I don't need your company…" She muttered, looking away from me.

"I know you don't… neither do I." Our last words didn't felt honest to me. "But I was working on some requests for the student council. Since Nozomi has to go to the shrine early all this week. W-well, I just thought I could annoy you a bit." I noticed Maki was stopping herself from smirking. "I kind of missed you… y-your playing, so I thought I could come here…" I muttered more shyly than I intended.

"You are not leaving me alone today, are you?" She asked in insight as I grinned.

"Honestly I am not." Maki just snorted with frustration.

"Well, you are indeed annoying me, then…" Maki kept looking away as she curled her hair, I didn't get offended her maybe harsh words.

"That's why I came here." I grinned at her as she gave me an unamused look.

"O-okay, you are not annoying me! Sheesh… I just prefer to be alone right now." Then Maki just kept looking away from my eyes. I took a deep breath. "So you can-"

"Maki… I don't want you to shut us out, we are-"

"I-I am not shutting anyone-"

"I had a talk with Hanayo and Rin… you've been kind of avoidant lately-"

"I-I have not!" Maki voiced sharply, looking at me… _okay, let's try another approach._

"I know things are complicated right now. If what brought the nine of us together was being a school idol and saving the school… now that technically there's no Muse's, how are we going to stay together?" The redhead blinked twice at my words and I gave her a sad smile.

"I-I don't know what you are talking about…" She looked away from me, _you are a bad liar, Maki._

"That's all I've been able to thinking about. It worries me… I don't want to lose you or the others, I treasure every single one of you." This time we had our eyes locked, she seemed a bit surprised, but attentive at my words. I had to look away with shyness. _I can see right through you, Maki… mostly because I think we are concerned about the same thing: losing the friends we made._ But if there's one thing I've learned, is to take care of the people that are important to you.

"Sheesh, Eli… I've told you that you worry too much." I giggled a bit, _I could say the exact same thing, Maki._ She crossed her arms but she gave me a tender smile.

"Yes, you have, plenty of times… I just don't want you, or Umi, or Honoka to be alone when you don't have to… I know we are a mess right now but… but I really care about each one of you." Maki just kept silently looking at me. "So… that's why I came here." I didn't knew what else to say.

"I-well… I kind of care too-I-I mean…" Maki muttered, blushing once again. "I just… yeah, I just don't know what to do." I gave her a smile.

"Me neither. What I do know is that we are friends, right? The nine of us are more than just teammates. We are good friends, and friends stick together." I could tell Maki was trying to stop herself from smiling, but she still grinned a bit. "We are eating lunch together tomorrow, just so you know. So I am annoying you today and tomorrow. For free." Maki giggled, shaking her head, it made me smile.

"Yeah, annoying me for free… so you didn't came here to spy on me?" I grinned at the redhead's words.

"Hmm…" I blushed a bit. _I do need to stop doing that…_

"You are not even going to deny it?" Maki gave me an unamused look, but she was smirking.

"I came here to… see you? Alright… I couldn't stop myself from looking at you playing the piano, sorry." _It's not a lie._ I blushed a bit as Maki sighed deeply. "It's your own fault for being so good." I know she was going to get embarrassed by my words… and for some reason I did too.

"A-alright, just forget it… what are we going to do with Umi and Hohoka?" She gave me a concerned look. _You pretend not to care Maki, but you are worried too._ "I-I mean… Hanayo, Rin and Nico are still practicing, they have not given up. They seem to be doing fine, so I guess you were right…"

"Yeah, I have seen them. Umi is just been focusing on her archery… and Honoka is been with other second years while Kotori is just getting ready to leave. It pains me to see them like that… not talking to each other. I can't picture myself in that situation… so I know they are suffering. I am worried about them." I glanced down to the floor. "But I thought I could talk to Umi today, in a more serious matter… what do you think?" She gave me a weird look… "M-Maki?" The redhead suddenly grabbed the documents in my hand and walked past me. I stood there, a bit confused as she turns around to face me.

"W-what?" She blushed a bit. "I thought you had work to do? If you are going to talk to them, you need to finish your duties as soon as possible." I just stood there and Maki sighed. "C-come on! I can let you work at the music room tomorrow, but right now we have more important things to do!" She grabbed my wrist and pulled me away.

"R-really? Harasho…" I muttered in disbelief and I could notice Maki was a bit flustered. _Stay with her at the music room?_ I blushed slightly… _is she letting me hear her music again?_ Honestly, I would pay for that.

"Just so you would stop-ugh, let's just get to work, Eli!" I smiled at the embarrassed girl in front of me as she let go of my arm.

"I like the way you think." Maki blushed a bit more as we entered the office.

"If someone can make them snap out of… whatever is happening to them, that's you." Maki voiced as we sat down.

"Actually, I thought you could be the one to-"

"So, what do I need to stamp today?" I smiled wide at the redhead next to me.

"If you could sort these request by date that would be helpful…" Maki quickly started to sort the documents out. "I really appreciate it, Maki." I giggled silently as I grabbed a pen and paper.

"Eli?" I turn my gaze to Maki, but she was avoiding my eyes. "Thank you." She voiced simply as she blushed slightly, but she kept her focus on sorting the documents. I got a bit embarrassed too, she didn't had to say why she was thanking me.

"I'm the one who needs to thank you… I was having a very unproductive afternoon until now." We giggled a bit before we continue with the duties. "I'll be more efficient tomorrow, listening to your music." I couldn't hide my smile, _I just… yes, I enjoy a lot being with Maki._

"D-did I said… you-"

"You promised." I giggled at the embarrassed girl next to me, _of course she is trying to backtrack her words._

"I-I did not promised! Sheesh, you are so troublesome…" I laughed at her words, _I remember calling her troublesome before…_

"Look who is talking." Maki rolled her eyes before she giggled. "It's not a big deal, if it makes you nervous you don't have to let me listen to you… Now, stop distracting me Maki… I am the student council president, I have work to do." I said that jokingly and I made Maki roll her eyes and giggle, _but she is indeed distracting to me…_

"You are so embarrassing…" I could hear the redhead mutter. I smiled as I started writing, leering at Maki.

—

 **Maki's POV:**

"Why the three of you are always late?!" Hanayo, Rin and I entered to the club room… we are having a lunch meeting or something. Eli and Nozomi were sitting at the club desk too.

"Do you even go to classes? How you are always the first one to arrive?" I asked Nico, making the rest of the girls giggle.

"I'm glad you asked! I have a schedule-"

"I am glad we are here together, I am so hungry." And with a smile Nozomi started to eat, making the others grin and Nico snort.

"I am starving too, nya! Kayo-chin made some rice balls for us." Hanayo smiled shyly and opened her package.

"They are special ones…" She gave each one a rice ball. They had our initials, mine had a red colored 'M'… _Sheesh, this girl._ I smiled at Hanayo.

"Oh, Hanayo-chan…" Nozomi voiced, smiling at the first year.

"Thank you, Hanayo. We do love your cooking." Eli admitted before she took a bite. "Harasho!" We all smiled and ate together. _If only the second years were here…_ I noticed Hanayo still had something in her package, probably rice balls for them.

"S-sorry for being late! I had a meeting…" I smiled at Umi, she showed us her lunch before she sat in front of me. _At least one of them is here… but what about Honoka?_

"You all need a lesson or two about punctuality…" Nico sighed before she took another bite.

"This one is for you, Umi-chan." Hanayo lend her the 'U' rice ball… Umi smiled wide.

"H-Hanayo… you shouldn't have-"

"I had to! Rice… is what keeps the world together." We all giggled… even though we knew Hanayo said that in all seriousness.

"Kayo-chin is our rice goodness nya!" Rin voiced excitedly, making Hanayo blush intensively.

"I guess that's indeed a good title for her..." I commented before I finished my rice ball.

"Maki-chan's title would be… grumpy goodness." I chocked at Rin's word while the rest laughed.

"M-Maki-chan, are you alright?-"

"I rather call her: Nishikino stubborn tomato Maki." _Seriously, Nico!?_

"Come on, Maki is not grumpy…" Eli defended me just when I finally managed to breathe normally.

"I guess if Hanayo is rice, Maki would definitely be a tomato." Umi pointed out like we were discussing a serious topic. _I trusted you, Umi…_

"I was dying just now but you all were more busy calling me names?!" Rin and Nico nodded in agreement and I snorted. "Why am I even here…"

"Oh, don't be overdramatic, Maki-chan. If you were dying Elichi would grab you and take you to a hospital in just a second." Eli rolled her eyes while most of the girls giggled, I gave Nozomi an angry look.

"Say goodbye to your cards, Nozomi." I voiced sharply with a smirk. Nico opened her mouth and Eli had her eyes wide open while Nozomi gasped.

"You wouldn't dare, Maki-chan…" I grinned, _ah! Now you are scared, Nozomi?_

"Who is the overdramatic one now? They will be gone when you least expect it, Nozomi." I had to stop myself from chucking at the third year's expression, _this is her weak point._

"T-there's no need to do that, Maki…" _You are not saving her, Eli._

"This is war, Maki-chan. Prepare all your spells and everything you have." We all laughed… but Nozomi sounded very serious. _I can easily deal with her._

"Don't worry, Nozomi. I am not letting that tomato anywhere near your cards." I rolled my eyes at Nico, the rest of them laughed just before the bell rang. "Fuck-"

"Nicocchi!" Nozomi scolded Nico, who opened her eyes wide. We all giggled one last time before we stepped out of the clubroom.

"How can you swear in front of the student council, Nico?" Umi voiced with another scolding tone.

"That's right, Elicchi say something to Nicocchi." Nozomi gave Nico a disapproving look while the girl rolled her eyes.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I giggled, _what a bad liar Eli._ But she was right… she made us get together again and we spent a nice time, _ignoring the tomato teasing._ I sighed but then I smiled at the blonde ponytail in front of me… the rest of the girls were chatting happily. _If only Kotori and Honoka were here…_

—

I was humming while playing the piano… I finished the last chord of the song and I stretched my arms before I turn my gaze to look at Eli. "So, have you finished?" The girl seemed lost in her own thoughts, looking at the piano. I furrowed my eyebrow. "Eli?" She flinched and blushed a bit.

"W-what? Oh, almost!" The blonde quickly returned her focus to her homework, I sighed and I stood up. _Now what's going on with her…?_

"If you need help…" I sat next to her, the blonde just shook her head in response. We have been spending our afternoons here, initially it was really embarrassing for me to play in front of her… but I guess I got used to it. I only like to play alone so it was very stressful for me when my parents made me participate in concerts… But it felt different with Eli, that's for sure. I smiled at the busy girl next to me… _maybe is because she doesn't make a big deal out of it, she just gives me company, I guess._ "I thought you were going to talk to Honoka today?"

"I am. I just need to wait for Arisa to come here. She is visiting Yukiho, so it's my chance to talk to her…" Eli smiled at me before she continued writing. I moved uncomfortably, she already talked to Umi… but the two second years weren't communicating with each other. I leaned on my elbow. _If they don't listen to Eli… then I have no idea what to do._ "I loved that last song, was it new?" I blinked with surprise before I nodded silently as I kept looking at the blonde… _it's funny that I don't get nervous at all when Eli is here… maybe she is just quiet enough_. I have to stop myself from smiling, _I am glad that she enjoys the music but not making a big deal of it._ It's like she knows I would get embarrassed or something so she just sits and enjoys. _I guess she knows me well…_

"They need to stop avoiding each other's…" I said, returning my mind to the conversation but still carelessly looking at Eli until she suddenly laughed. "W-what?"

"Nothing, it's just funny to hear that coming from you…" She voiced, locking our eyes.

"Sheesh, shut up…" I rolled my eyes, but I smiled. "Then-"

"Oh." I hear a voice coming from the door. "Oh my…" It was Nozomi... smirking at us. I blushed intensively, _why is she smirking like that?_ Since I threatened her cards, well… Nozomi is been a reckless joker. _What are you going to do now-_

"Onee-chan! Nishikino-san, hi!" Arisa appeared from behind Nozomi, I quickly stood up. Nozomi was just smirking at me… _'This is war, Maki-chan.' Ugh…_

"A-arisa… what are you doing he-"

"She wanted to visit the school so I said I could take her to you, since I just finished work… it wasn't my intention to, ahem, disturb you two… didn't mean to interrupt the session." I instinctively exchanged looks with Eli and we flushed.

"Y-You were not interrupting anything!" I quickly deny only for Nozomi to grin at me. "And hello, Arisa-chan…" I voiced shyly.

"Were you playing the piano for my onee-chan?" I opened my eyes wide, the girl was excited. "Can I listen too?" _I-I… w-what?_ My face was definitely red by now.

"Yeah, can we have a seat too? Or is it a _private_ session?" I crossed my arms… _I am so going to kill her one of these days._ Eli sighed as she stood up.

"Nozomi." The blonde voiced in a scolding tone. "I was just doing my homework, Arisa." Eli said as she placed her stuff in her bag.

"Homework, hmm?" I rolled my eyes at Nozomi's words as Eli gave her a sharp look. I noticed she was a bit embarrassed too… _but I guess she is more used to Nozomi's stupid teasing._

"We all need to leave, Arisa…" The younger girl seemed disappointed, it made me feel a bit bad. "Hey, I thought we were going to visit Yukiho?" That seemed to work, Arisa was excited again.

"Nozomi-senpai told me she could give me another tour of the school, I want to see the alpacas again!" Nozomi giggled at the cheerful girl.

"Maybe another day, Arisa…" Eli gently placed her hand on her little sister head. "Let's go." And she walked outside the room, with Arisa following her. I grabbed my bag, with Nozomi looking at me.

"Don't worry, Arisa-chan. I'll book you a school tour and a concert, just for you!" Nozomi voiced, making the younger girl smile.

"Don't you have a shrine to reconstruct?" I voiced giving Nozomi a sharp look, we were following the two Ayase's down the hallway, the third year giggled. "A-and I don't give concerts, Arisa-chan..." I felt the need to clear that up.

"But my onee-chan says you are an amazing pianist… and composer!" Arisa pointed out, making Nozomi giggle and my cheeks flush. "So she must have listened to you before…"

"B-because she is Muse's musician, Arisa… nothing else-"

"Nothing else, Arisa-chan." Nozomi repeated with her never endind teasing tone. _Note to self: never threaten her stupid cards ever again…_

"Can you two stop bringing me into the middle of your war?" Eli voiced and I was about to complain. "Okay, okay… not you, Maki. You, Nozomi." Eli gave Nozomi another look but the other girl just grinned.

"It's not my fault that you are Maki's Achilles heel-"

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" I muttered, Eli just sighed deeply once again while Arisa giggled, entertained by the situation. "Just because your weakness are some dumb cards doesn't mean I have some dumb weakness too!"

"Did you just call Elichi dumb?" The three girls giggled and I blushed.

"I-I did not. I did not said that, Eli!" I quickly, looking at the blonde while she shuddered her shoulders and laughed.

"You all are so funny. Do you have all this fun every day?" Arisa asked with a tender smile as we stood at the school entrance.

"No-"

"Yes-" Nozomi voiced at the same time while the two sisters giggled.

"Alright, alright… stop fighting." Eli said with her arms crossed.

"It's Nozomi-"

"She started it." I gave Nozomi an angry look while she put her tongue out, Eli shook her head.

"I'll see you two tomorrow… behave." So Eli and Arisa walked away, waving at us. I just rolled my eyes.

"Bye, Nozomi-senpai, Nishikino-san!" _Arisa is always smiling… how?_

"Good luck with Honoka-chan." Nozomi waved too before she gave me a sharp look. "Finally alone…" She wiggled her eyebrows and I rolled my eyes as I walked past her.

"I am not taking your stupid cards! Can you stop teasing me? Especially in front of Arisa-chan?" I gave the third year a sharp look while she pretended to think.

"You threatened my cards, Maki-chan. And you are calling them names-"

"You called me a tomato-"

"I need to give you a lesson, it's my duty as your nurse/doctor mentor." Nozomi just smiled at me while I gave her an unamused look.

"For the last time: I am not a nurse or a doctor! And you are definitely not a mentor-"

"I am so happy that the boulder is starting to move… but you need to do your part too, Maki-chan!" I snorted at the weird words coming from her.

"I never understand a thing you say, Nozomi." She wiggled her eyebrows again. "You are unbelievable…"

"Don't worry, you'll know what to do when the situation presents itself… Everyone is doing their job in getting the Muse's together. You are one of the last pieces for this puzzle." I was… confused, to say the least. Just confused. "One puzzle of many, because there are more coming later…"

"Muse's together? W-what are you even-"

"I'll see you tomorrow, little tomato." Nozomi gave me a smile and a wave before she walked away towards the shrine.

"I'm taller than you! Sheesh…" _Sometimes I really think something is wrong with Nozomi…_ _maybe_ _I shouldn't have threatened he cards. It was a bad call, Maki and now you are paying the price: Nozomi lost her mind._

—

I took a deep breath when I finished playing a song… Eli and Nozomi had a meeting after classes, so I was in the music room alone. _Kotori is leaving tomorrow... Honoka and Umi are still not talking to each ochers, even though Eli had a long talk with both of them._ I snorted, _it's too late to fix it, I guess._ I shook my head, alright let's play one last song… I look- _Y-you have to be kidding me!_

"Honoka!" I almost shouted, the girl outside the door opened her eyes wide and I stood up angrily. "What are you doing?!" I opened the door, _I need to cover that stupid window!_

"I-hmm… I was just… listening?" Honoka scratched her neck and laughed nervously.

"I can see that!" I crossed my arms in front of her, the second year glanced down… and I flinched. _She is probably having a hard day, Maki._

"Sorry, sorry, Maki-chan… I could hear your music from the roof, so..." She sighed, it was definitely not like her to act like this. Every time she discovered me playing music she got overly excited, but now… "Don't worry, I'll leave you alone…" _'I treasure every single one of you', 'You need to do your part too, Maki-chan!'… Eli and Nozomi's words?_

"Ugh… Honoka? Why were you on the roof alone?" I asked, looking directly at her eyes.

"Me? Ah… I was just… thinking. About bread? I am having some bread later." She chuckled and I half-smiled. _Yeah, sure._

"Bread?" I shook my head. "Okay, that sounds like you… but you are not acting like yourself you know?" _You are not good with words Maki… but I need to make this girl react! She is been in autopilot for far too long._

"W-what do you mean? I'm totally-"

"What are you going to do?" I cut her off, she gave me a confused look.

"Huh?-"

"You know what I mean." I voiced sharply.

"I… I do not. I'll let you-"

"Honoka." I made the other girl turn around and I placed my hands on her shoulders, looking straight into her eyes. "Wake up." I shook her a little bit, she blinked in surprise. "Have you forgotten how persistent you can be? And how you can make everything seem possible? Everything!"

"Maki-chan…" We had our eyes locked.

"You know why you can make everything seem possible? Because you never give up on the things you care the most… never. You know what? You were the first person to really come talk to me at school… I thought I could never ever really have friends like I do now. You managed to do that for me… being a hassle, bothering me, even annoying me. And I…" I sighed, still looking at her eyes. "I thank you, for that… if it wasn't for you, well… W-what I mean is that is my turn to-"

"Maki-chan!" She suddenly hugged me… really hard. _Air… I need air._ "But I don't know what to do…"

"Ugh, Honoka… stop it." I felt my cheeks grew redder. She separated from me and she gave me a sad smile.

"It's too late, Maki-chan-"

"No, is not. What's the first thing that comes to your mind right now?" She blinked twice. "What can you do to fix this? Wake up, Honoka!" She stood there, looking at me… then she grinned.

"O-okay… then I… I have to run!" And just like that… she ran away. "Thank you Maki-chan!"

"R-run?" I was the one blinking in surprise this time… _Sheesh,_ I crossed my arms with a big smile. _I have no idea what's on her mind… but at least she smiled in the way she used to. But… can she fix this? I sure hope is not too late…_

* * *

 **So, I would love some feedback... I am not sure if I should use english lyrics or romanji when I use songs? I'm not quite sure. After last chapter I had to make this one a lot more lively. (I can't believe this is chapter 10 :o ... sorry if the 'romance' genre is taking a bit to come...) Also: have a nice week! And good luck with Maki's ENSIF event!**


	11. Chapter 11 - Dashing

**New chapter! ^^ have a great day!**

* * *

 **Dashing.**

When Honoka left I started to feel a lot more… animated, maybe? And that could be noticeable by the way I was playing the piano. I even wrote some music, _it made me happy to see Honoka in her usual overexcited self, even if it was just for a few seconds. But… maybe I am also a bit worried? She had that spark in her eyes, like when she asked me about being a school idol…_ The embarrassing memory made me blush slightly.

"Maki?" I flinched before I gazed towards the door. It was Eli, and she looked kind of worried. "Have you seen Honoka?"

"I, hmm…" I stood up. _Great, what did she do now?_ "Yeah? B-but a while ago, why?" Eli snorted in frustration, looking around the hallway before she returned her eyes to me.

"Well… she accidentally interrupted our meeting… and after that she asked us to give her permission to use the auditorium tomorrow, I told her I would have to ask the…" I laughed nervously. "What did you do?" I opened my eyes wide but the blonde gave me a warm smile. "Well, whatever you did: good job." Then she turns around, giving me her back as she kept looking around. I decide to step out of the music room, to look around too. "You did cheered her up… Oh, and I like the new song, by the way." I quickly glanced at the golden ponytail as I blushed intensively.

"I-I don't know what are you talking about…" I could imagine her silly smile right now, even though I couldn't see it. Suddenly I felt nervousness, so I made myself go back to the present situation. "Why does Honoka need the auditorium?" Eli turned her gaze to lock her eyes with mine.

"Y-you don't know? I… don't know either?" _Why are you so confused right now?_ "She told me that you two had a chat? Well, she was talking very fast and walked away in a rush when I said I would talk to the director…" I laughed nervously, _H-Honoka…_ She gave me a worried face. "Y-you have no idea what is she up to?"

"No, I think she finally lost her mind…" Eli giggled, which made me grin. "What did the principal say?"

"She agreed, but only if the student council was responsible for it…" Now she sighed, Eli seemed a lot more worried about Honoka's mysterious plan. "Now, where is that girl?"

"I'm sure she is fine… just another crazy idea on her mind." We giggled a bit, locking our eyes for a second before I had to look away, feeling embarrassed. _Her eyes are too blue…_ "S-so… what do you think about the song?" I knew my cheeks were red, but it was a bit surprising to see Eli slightly blushed too. _But I do like to know Eli's feedback…_

"I-I loved it! I mean… I didn't hear much but it sounded so good, Maki." I couldn't stop a big smile from coming out thanks to Eli's words. "I would-"

"Of course you two would be here, _together_ …" Nozomi surprised us, we didn't see her coming and she was smirking at us. _What's than emphasis in the 'together' huh? Ugh Nozomi… I can't believe you are is still salty about me threatening those stupid cards!_

"Can you stop with that smirk of yours? I told you I am not touching your cards!" But the third year just ignored my words, she seemed… very cheerful? Which seemed off.

"No sign of Honoka here. Did you…? " Eli asked the other girl, to our surprise Nozomi quickly nodded with a big grin. "Y-you have? Where is she?"

"Ah, I gave Honoka-chan the auditorium keys and then she left in a hurry." I glanced at Eli, noticing that she blinked twice in disbelief. "She seemed like her usual self, and my cards have very good news…"

Eli shook her head. "N-no… you did not give her the keys…" But the spiritual girl had a big grin who said otherwise. "Nozomi!" The blonde voiced in a scolding tone, demanding an explanation.

"I will forgive you, Maki-chan, if you let us change our student council operations room to the music room." Now I was the one confused. "Deal? Perfect!" The purple haired girl turned around. _I-I didn't even gave an answer!_ "Now let's visit Kotori-chan." And just like that she walked away. Eli and I exchanged some looks.

"W-wait-"

"Nozomi!" Eli shouted as we followed the girl in question. "You gave Honoka the keys?" Eli catches up to Nozomi, giving her a sharp look but the girl was just walking happily.

"W-What do you mean about the operations room?" No response, _this girl lost her mind too?_ "Nozomi!" Eli and I voiced simultaneously this time. _She can't be serious…_

"Ah… it's such a beautiful day, so many questions that soon will be answered." The third year voiced, looking up to the sky as we stepped out of the school. I had to give myself a face palm.

"That key is… is our responsibility! I am going to call Honoka-"

"I think she is busy, Elichi." She responded simply, but Eli still tried to call. "Are you happy that I forgive you, Maki-chan?"

"No if you are invading my music room-"

"Ah… but we don't have much left as the student council, so I thought it's a great idea to spend our last days there, instead…" _Wait, much time left… why? Their graduation is still months away… Wait! No!_

"What does that mean? You two still have a lot of time left?" I asked, looking mostly at Eli, who just snorted as she returned her phone to her bag.

"She is not answering-"

"I told you she was busy, Elichi-"

"Are you two leaving too? O-Or something?" I helplessly tried to hide my worry, _but after Kotori's surprise…_ I kept my gaze on Eli, waiting for her to explain the situation. _I don't think I could handle these two leaving too…_

"L-leaving? What?" Eli shook her hands. "We have a serious issue to resolve! We need to find Honoka!" It was a crazy scene, the blonde was full of worry while Nozomi… well, now she was humming cheerfully. I sighed, _I panicked for just a second._

"We are not leaving, Maki-chan. It's just that our time is coming to an end…" _And why are you saying that with a smile?_ "So, I declare the music room our new little place-"

"What Nozomi is trying to say is that our student council period is about to end, and I would love to listen-" Suddendly the blonde shook her head. "Wait! Where are we going?" We glanced at Nozomi. "We need to go to Honoka's-"

"To Kotori-chan house, of course." _So… we were just following Nozomi's lead without notice?_ Eli snorted with frustration.

"Why Honoka has our key, Nozomi? It's the student council business…" I had to giggle silently at Eli, losing her patience.

"Because she found me and I just gave it to her. She told me she needed it." The blonde massaged one of her temples for a second.

I giggled this time. "It makes sense, Eli…" I said with sarcasm, _she is so worried… responsible Eli, is too responsible._

"Can you please explain to me why you gave her the key? The key that is supposed to be in our hands?" The other third year started to… think, grabbing her jaw.

"Because I trust Honoka-chan." She answered simply, like that made totally sense.

"I-I trust her too, Nozomi! B-but it's our-"

"We are here." Nozomi suddenly stopped, looking at the entrance of the house next to us. "To say goodbye to Kotori-chan… just in case everything fails."

"E-everything fails?" I muttered as I felt the situation sink in… _something drastic needs to happen. If not, Kotori is leaving tomorrow…_ Just before Nozomi rang the bell, I had to exchange a concerning look with Eli. _I am not sure if we are worried about Kotori or about Nozomi's unfitting smile or… what if Honoka is here?! Maybe she talked with-_

Kotori opened the door just to give us a sad smile. "Eli-chan, Nozomi-chan, Maki-chan…" _Kotori…_ "Please come on in." We glance around, there were various boxes and suitcases around.

"Kotori… H-how is everything doing?" It was Eli the one who managed to say something.

"Good, I have everything ready…" It was painful to see Kotori like this, trying to smile… even though it was obvious that she didn't wanted to. "Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan just left…" _No sign of Honoka or Umi… I can't stand the sadness in Kotori's voice._

"Oh, and have you seen-" Nozomi managed to stop Eli's words, hitting Eli and me with her elbow, I gave Nozomi a sharp look as I rubbed my side body. _Why did you had to hit me too?_ But the blonde seemed to understand what the girl meant.

"Umi-chan? She left after we ate lunch… but she is coming later tonight." By this point, Kotori almost gave up on her smile.

"W-well… Kotori, I just wish you the best." Eli voiced shyly, looking away from the second year. _W-what should I say…_

"We will forever be good friends, right Maki-chan?" I flinched at Nozomi's words, realizing Kotori had her eyes watering.

"Y-yeah…" Was the only words I could say as Kotori started to sob silently.

"Oh, Kotori-chan…" Nozomi pulled the younger girl into a big hug, letting her cry on her shoulder as she rubbed her back. "Everything will be alright…" _are you sure about that, Nozomi?_ I looked at Eli… I saw her quickly cleaning a tear, which made me realize my eyes were burning a bit… I shook my head, blinking. _Don't you cry, Maki…_ When Kotori calmed herself a bit, Nozomi separated from her, giving the girl one of her soothing smiles.

"Nozomi is right…" It was Eli's time to pull Kotori into a hug. I blushed slightly, a bit overwhelmed by the emotions. "We can talk by phone anytime you want, we'll keep in touch…" Kotori just nodded and I started to curl my hair.

"I-it's not like… I-hmm… good luck, Kotori." _O-ok… now you need to hug her…_ but I only managed to look away. Just when I thought Nozomi was about to scold me, Kotori pulled me into a hug. I flinched for a second but then I corresponded the hug… _I don't want this… I don't want anyone to leave._

"Maki-chan…" Kotori voiced, looking at me when we ended our hug. "You guys…" She glanced at the two third years this time. "Thank you…" _She looks just so sad… and where's Honoka? It doesn't sound like she has been here! I guess…_ part of me wanted to believe Honoka could save the day.

"Have a safe flight, Kotori." Eli voiced simply and we all awkwardly waved a bit… before we left Kotori's house. _I felt pain… in my stomach? Heart? Brain? I didn't knew…_ so I just glanced to the floor.

"Oh, Elicchi…" This time Nozomi pulled Eli into a hug, the blonde was tearing up a bit, I felt like my heart just broke… "It's alright, it's alright."

"I am… n-not crying." Eli muttered, crying silently… that's when I noticed Nozomi's tears too.

"C-can you two stop crying?! T-that's embarrassing!" I voiced less harshly than I pretended, because my voice cracked.

"Aw, Maki-chan…" Nozomi freed one of her arms and wrapped it around my neck, still hugging Eli, so it was a triple hug…

"T-this is so stupid…" I cleaned up a tear before anyone could see it, then I separated from them. Eli sighed helplessly as she separated from Nozomi. "Why are you smiling right now?" I asked Nozomi with frustration.

"I am smiling because fate it's never decided until it happens… so, everything can change, for better or for worse." I rolled my eyes, _I don't think your wise words can stop an airplane, Nozomi._ "The spirits…" She glanced up to the sky before she returned our eyes to us, it was almost dark outside… "I need to go to the shrine, I'll see you two tomorrow!"

"Y-yeah… I need to go to Hono-"

"Maki-chan, take Elicchi home. Don't let her bother Honoka-chan right now…" I had my arms crossed, looking at Eli. "She can't mess with the ties… I trust you, Maki-chan." _W-what? And there she goes…_

"W-wait! Nozomi!" But the girl didn't stop, so Eli sighed in frustration. "What's wrong with her? It's like she knows something…"

"Don't get your hopes up… she is just believing in miracles right now. Everything suggests that Kotori is leaving… and nothing can stop that." I couldn't stop myself from being negative, but Eli nodded, looking down to the floor.

"I guess you are right…" The blonde sighed and turned her nostalgic gaze back to Kotori's house. We glanced at it for a couple of seconds before we marched in silence, I knew both of us were just thinking about… _huh?_ I notice someone sitting on a bench not far away from us… _its Umi._ I bump Eli with my arm, she looks at me and I point out the second year with a shake of my head.

Eli turns around. "U-Umi?" The blonde almost whispered, but Umi was lost in her own thoughts with a bag on her hands. Eli walked towards her and I just followed. "Umi?" The girl flinched, noticing our presence.

"H-hey… what are you two doing here?" Umi barely voiced before she sniffed. _Was she… crying?_

"We just saw Kotori…" Eli explained, the mention of the name made Umi sat rigidly. "A-are you okay?"

Umi quickly cleaned her eyes. "Y-yes… I was just…" She looked away awkwardly as she stands up. "Trying to keep it together before…" I had to look away, _before saying goodbye…_ "I got Kotori's favorite dinner." The second year only managed to give us a sad grin, Eli tried to warm her with one of her smiles, _I thought... hmm…_

"Have you talked to Honoka?" I couldn't stop myself from asking, but Umi's face said it all. "N-no?" She just shook her head… _then what is Honoka planning? This doesn't make any sense!_

"I… Goodbye." Umi voiced before she walked away from us like her legs were heavy. Eli gave me a concerned look, _I know what she is thinking._

"I-I… I thought Honoka was going to talk to Umi, at least. She seemed eager to fix… I-I guess it is too late." I turn away from Umi, making both of us continue our way. _Maybe I should have said something else to them… but what?_

"It's never too late, Maki! If someone knows that, that's Honoka." I glanced at Eli, she definitely didn't seemed convinced by her own words. "Nozomi said-"

"Fate can't stop an airplane, Eli." I voiced simply, making the blonde look down.

"Don't say that…" _I'm sorry…_ I gave her a sad smile as I kept walking. "I should have-"

"Don't say that." I repeated her own words, surprising her a bit. "We… we did all we could." Eli just kept her eyes on me. "We all did." I voiced simply, walking once again. _There's just no point in blaming ourselves now…_ Eli just followed me.

"Did we…?" Eli almost whispered to herself, but I was asking the same thing… "W-wait, where are you going?" I turn around to face her, not understanding what she is asking. "Your house is that way?"

I giggled at her before I proceed to walk again, leading the way. "But I am taking you home this time…" Only when my cheeks grew redder was when I realized that… _Why did that…? That sounded really embarrassing, Maki!_

"W-wait, no." I could hear Eli's mutter before she catch up to me. "Maki-"

"I'm just doing what Nozomi said." She was walking next to me when she giggled.

"Hmm… so you don't want me to interfere Honoka's fate?" She smirked at me, I look upfront, trying to stay careless. "I thought you said-"

"I-It's not that-"

"It sounds like you believe at least a bit of Nozomi's predictions…" I gave Eli an unamused look as we reached the entrance of her building, she was standing in front to me with a grin on her face.

"No, I don't." _She is smirking again…_ "I just don't want to risk it! J-just go inside, Arisa-chan must be waiting for you…" I crossed my arms, looking away from the blonde… until I realized she had her eyes on me. "W-what?" My cheeks blushed… but then again she got really flustered.

"N-nothing…" She looks away, scratching her cheek… it was dark outside but the moonlight made Eli's hair… shine. "So-"

"No, you can't talk to Honoka." I had to cut her off as I kept… secretly admiring the older girl in front of me. She rolled her eyes but giggled.

"I-It's not that. I just don't want you to walk alone." I furrowed my eyebrow as I gave Eli a face… _I am not letting you do that today._ "M-"

"I had a long day, just go inside so I can go home." Eli was the one with an eyebrow up this time, _of course you are going to refuse._ "I am not ten years old. Go…" I grabbed her shoulders to make her turn around.

"W-well, you are acting like a ten year old right now!" I had to smile wide as I made the older girl move inside. "A-alright, alright…" She turns around to give me a sharp look, I just smirked… _That's the face of victory._ "Just… text me when you get home?" I opened my eyes wide, then I noticed Eli blushed slightly. So I turned around to hide my blush.

"No-"

"Maki-"

"Alright!" I face her once again, I cross my arms, giving her my strict face. "Just go!" Eli giggled nervously one last time.

"Fine… but do what I told you…" I kept my unamused look. "I'm leaving." I stood there, looking at Eli walk inside… she glanced over her shoulder to give me a quick look before I couldn't see her anymore. I smiled… and giggled… and for a second I forgot what was really happening tomorrow. _Ugh!_ I started to walk towards my house this time. I sighed deeply when I entered to my house… _I don't like this day at all._ I knew there was no one at home at this time so I just walked to my room in silence. _Kotori will be gone by this time tomorrow…_ I placed my bag on my desk as I sighed deeply, feeling defeated. _Because we are indeed defeated and_ _I… I sigh too much._ I decide to grab my phone… I had two messages. I giggled, _I wonder who that is?_ I asked myself sarcastically as I read: 'Are you Home?', 'Maki?' _Sheesh…_ I started to type: _'Stop it! I'm home, Eli…'_ I couldn't stop a smile from showing up. _She is…_ _no, she is not annoying… she just worries too much._

—

"Maki!" My mom's yell made me stumble on the treadmill. She just smiled, standing next to the door she just opened, I just rolled my eyes as I took off one of my earphones. It is still too early to have lunch… _what does she want now?_

"M-Mom! I'm running-"

"It's an emergency…" I gave her another quick glance… _that doesn't look like it!_ My mom was grinning. I sighed as I stopped the treadmill and I grabbed my water and towel, I was all sweaty. _I love interruptions so much…_ I was silently following my mother as she walked… apparently towards the living room.

"Guess who is here?" _W-What?_ I started to get nervous _, is someone here? But I am all swe-_ "Ayase-san is here, she does say that you all have an emergency." I couldn't quite believe what she was saying until we entered the living room, I looked at Eli who seemed a bit surprised but smiled when she saw me. I opened my eyes wide. _Why is Eli here? And why is she wearing our school uniform today?!_

"M-Maki… sorry to interrupt, hmm… were you working out?" Eli giggled a bit and I blushed.

"W-what are you even doing here?" I voiced angrily. _I-I just don't understand!_

"You are having a concert today, isn't it great?" I laughed internally at my mother's words… _a concert? Yeah, sure._

"Alright, if this is a prank-"

"No… hmm…" Eli voiced a bit shyly, _maybe because…_ I started to clean up my sweat. "I mean, we need the first song you composed from Muse's." I wasn't giving credit to my own ears… "Its start dash-"

"I know its Start: Dash!" I had to cut her off as I wrapped the towel around my neck, looking away from Eli because I was embarrassed. "And why do you need that? Why are we having a con-"

"You should also… take a bath?" Eli giggled a bit as I blushed intensively. "We are in a hurry, Maki… k-kind of. It's just that we have a surprise concert to perform, alright? It's good news! And you need to wear your uniform." She just gave me one of her reassuring smiles… _What is this nonsense?_ I knew Eli was being serious… _and that only makes this even crazier!_

"You need to be fast, dear…" I finally snapped out of my shock and I turned around quickly, just to hit my knee with the stairs railing. I turn my gaze to… find two concerned pair of eyes.

"I-I am fine!" _Why now, clumsy Maki?!_ I ran upstairs, highly blushed… _at least I can pretend it was the exercise…_

"I'll prepare some tea." I could hear my mom's voice. _T-this is bad, I need to go fast…_

…

 _Maybe I'm just dreaming? I've been having weird dreams-ugh._ But there was Eli, drinking tea with my mom… I stepped inside the kitchen with my hair still a bit wet.

"Ah, she is ready… Did you know that Eli wanted to study in our university?" My mother voiced simply before she took a sip of tea, I moved my eyes to the blonde, who was a little flustered. _I… did not? Did she just called her 'Eli'?_

"No…" _I don't even know what she wants to study?_ "I-I thought we were in a hurry?"

"Y-yes, actually…" I grabbed the blondes arm to take her away from my noisy mother.

"Goodbye mom!" _And now my mother knows more things about Eli than I do? That… doesn't sound fair._ I closed my front door, giving Eli a sharp look.

"O-Okay, are you ready? You have the music? Umi must be waiting for us…" She had an apologetic smile on me.

"W-why I didn't know that?" The words just came out of my mouth, I was highly embarrassed and surprised by all the sudden situation I was in.

"K-know… know what?" Eli half-smiled this time, confused.

"Where do you wanted to study after… after you graduate?" _I just want to know…_

"W-well… you never asked?" Eli giggled nervously. "Your mom did, so-"

"Yeah, she can be bold and too talkative… and annoying." I was still frustrated by the situation.

"Come on, she is super nice actually-"

"And what do you want to study?" _What? I just want to know… I just feel…_

"A-are you alright, Maki?" But I kept looking at her, waiting for an answer. "Architecture…"

"Oh… I should've guessed…" _Yeah, I should have known._ Weirdly enough, I felt _… guilty? About not knowing more about Eli._

"You are acting weird… maybe you exercised too much? Why are you not asking about Honoka and the concert?" I flinched as I walked past her to lead the way.

"I was going to ask that too!" I snorted angrily. "Ugh, there's just too many things happening… why does she need that song? And why are we having a concert?"

"We all need that song… because we are singing it in our concert, of course." She gave me a big smile. _Like that totally makes sense…_ "We should walk a bit faster…" Eli quickened our pace. "Okay, let me resume things up: Honoka used the auditorium to talk with Umi, and they sorted things out! And they planned a concert…" _And why you don't look like this is crazy?!_

"You haven't said a word about Kotori…" I pointed out carefully.

"Honoka is taking her back." Eli voiced with a smile, I had to cringe. _How can you be so sure?_

"B-but she must be at the airport by now?-"

"Yeah, I'm sure Honoka had to run fast to get to her." Eli giggled but that just made me even more worried.

"And… that honestly doesn't make sense. Kotori could still get on that airplane and go away…" But my words didn't convinced Eli, _this is irrational._ "You can't think Honoka can just go and stop her from taking that flight?"

She just smiled at me. "If someone can do it, is Honoka. Don't worry, I can fight with your negativity all day long…" Eli giggled as I blushed.

"I am not being negative! I am being realistic…" _Fine, if she just want to believe in fairytales… whatever._ "W-what about Hanayo and Rin?"

"We have everything figured out, Rin and Nico are inviting the audience-"

"A-audience?" I asked nervously as we stepped inside the school, we were still walking in a rush and we were about to start panting.

"Yes, even Arisa and Yukiho are coming." She answered before she continued with the explanation. "Hanayo and Nozomi are getting things ready in the auditory with some help from other second years while… well, Umi is just waiting for-"

"W-why are you so okay with this? We can't have a concert…" _But… it seems like we are?_ Eli just gave me one of her famous reassuring smiles.

"I just trust them… and I really want the Muse's back together." I was still hesitant… _the Muse's together? D-don't get your hopes up…_

"We haven't even practiced in-"

"You don't need practice, Maki." Eli winked at me before she opened the auditorium door. _A-and now I'm blushing… again!_

"Ah! Finally. What took you two so long?" Nozomi and Hanayo were fixing some lights in the scenary, I just followed Eli towards the stage.

"Maki had to take a bath…" I had to look away with embarrassment as the other girls giggled.

"It's okay, we just finished this… now we just need to wait for Honoka-chan and Kotori-chan." Hanayo voiced with a tender smile… she seemed close to crying from happiness.

"The lightning looks amazing… now let's give the music to the control room." I sighed as I followed them into the auditorium. Hanayo opened the door, followed by Eli, who had the start: dash! CD.

"Perfect, Maki is here!" Umi received us with a smile, other second years where there, they always help us out. _C-can we stop pointing that out?_ "Where's-"

"Here." Eli gave her the music and they started discuss the plans. "Hanayo, can you check if Nico and Rin are back? They should be back soon…" Hanayo quickly nodded before she left, using the other door.

"So… Elichi was helpful?" Nozomi's whisper made me turn my gaze to her. _Huh? What does-oh no… that smirk-_ "With the bathing, I mean?" I felt my cheeks burning.

"You need to stop! I am seriously not touching your cards… stop torturing me." _She is just way too embarrassing!_ The third year giggled… _she is not going to stop ever, isn't she?_

"You still think I need a reason to tease you? Oh, you are so sweet, Maki-chan." I had to inflate my cheeks at her with frustration. "And we already have a deal for my forgiveness."

"No, we-"

"Is everything ready? The auditorium is full!" Nico stepped inside with more than a big smile, with the two other first years behind them.

"Everything is ready, let's wait for them backstage!" Umi left in a hurry and we all just followed her… I was close to smiling. Close? I was actually smiling… _are we seriously performing together again?_

"Someone is smiling…" I locked my eyes with some blue ones and I had to stop myself from smiling even wider.

"Don't claim victory yet, Eli…" _But I never wanted to be more wrong in my life._

"Let's wait and see. Oh, and before you start hating on me…" I had to furrow my eyebrow, _yeah, like I can hate you._ "Your mom asked if she could come to the concert and I said yes-oh, I need to go check something!" I blinked in disbelief as the blonde left in a hurry.

"W-what…? E-Eli!" But she was far gone. _M-my mom?_

"You, wipe that terror off your face!" I snorted at Nico's words.

"I am not scared!" The raven haired smirked at me.

"I know you are not. Now, I have to go practice…" I rolled my eyes as she turned around. "Nico Nico-nii!" Rin suddenly grabbed my arm and Hanayo's to peek into the audience…

"Nya!" _Wow… it is full._ I gulped as I tried to look for my mom…

"Everything ready?" Eli asked us, I gave her little smile… _fine, I guess I'll let you get away with what you did._ "Now we just need to wait for them!" So we all just stood there, awkwardly waiting… I tried not to look around.

"I-I'm nervous…" I noticed Hanayo was trembling a bit. _We have never performed this song together… actually, we haven't practiced this song that much._

"Don't worry Kayo-chin! We are together, nya… b-but… why are we performing in our uniforms?!" I giggled at Rin.

"We are school idols, after all." I gave the two girls a smile. Even Hanayo seemed calmer now.

"Are they even getting here in time?" Nico dared to ask with some frustration… _or maybe she is the one scared now?_

"They will. Don't worry about it." Umi voiced bluntly, _she sounds way too confident about that…_

"But it's almost time…" Nozomi had to point out. _Hey, don't lose confidence right now! They are coming…_

"We can't have our-"

We heard a scream coming from one of the backstage doors… "Ah!" And someone… someone just fell in front of us. I smiled wide, _it's Honoka, b-but… where's-_

"Kotori!" Eli exclaimed when another person entenred with a smile. _S-she is here!_

"You got us worried, nya!" Rin voiced with a big smile as Honoka stood up, grinning. Umi just had the biggest smile ever. I just had to look around… and smile wide.

"Now, President… it's your turn." Nozomi grinned at Nico.

"W-what? Ha! Of course I'm ready!" She extended her hand, stretching two of her fingers. We knew what we had to do… "Let's put a smile in everyone's faces!" We all formed a big star.

"Well, let's go!" Honoka shouted with excited, like nothing had changed… We followed our leader, stepping into the stage. Our audience clapped with excitement before Honoka talked to them. "I remember our first concert there… I almost forgot the promise I had: to fill this auditorium… and we did it! Thanks to everyone who came here! I wanted everyone to feel… happy. And I hope we can make that dream come true today!" I noticed Arisa and Yukiho, smiling wide as we all walked to our respective spots… We all knew what to do. And the music started.

"I say..." We started singing, I saw my mother next to the auditorium entrace, she was with the director. "Hey! Hey! Hey, start: dash!"

—

I was on the roof, wearing my practice clothes once again. "I told you." I knew who was bumping me with her elbow. "It feels good to have them all back, right?" Eli stood next to me, watching the others talking happily. I nodded as I stared at the girl next to me.

"I guess… but where are Hanayo, Rin and Nico?" They were the only ones left… "You thought they would be the first ones to be here…" _They were gone before I stood up when classes ended…_

"Maybe I should-"

"We. Are. Here!" Nico shouted with excitement as she opened the roof door with Hanayo and Rin following her, they were smiling wide. I had to furrow my eyebrow, _what are these three up to?_

"You are late… and why are you wearing our gym class clothes?" Umi asked with an eyebrow up too.

"B-Because! We didn't have any other matching-Whatever!" Nico crossed her arms. "We are here to give you all a surprise! Nico Nico-ni!" We exchanged some concerning looks.

"You knew about this?" I whispered to Eli, she shook her head in response. "I guess Nico finally went-"

"Ahem, ahem." The club president pretended to cough. "We, the only ones who never ever give up on being a school idols… even though you all technically stabbed your president on her back-"

"Nico-chan!" Hanayo muttered, scolding the older girl. I had to giggle silently.

"We have a song we made when there was just the three of us…" Rin started to explain. "And we want to share it with you, so we hope you like it, nya!" We all just stood there looking at them in shock… they turned around dramatically. I glanced at Eli but she was with her arms crossed, focused on them. I returned my eyes to the three other girls. They turned around and started dancing and singing:

"Let's play! A happy greeting tune…"  
"Let's play! Because I met you…"  
"It's both a sign and a miracle."  
"I want to dream of our exciting miracle"  
"It's starting, so come here and… listen to my heart!" The three girls made a big jump.

…

"It's starting, so come here and listen to my heart!"  
"We'll smile cheerfully tomorrow"  
"And our hearts will ring out"  
"We'll complete this energetic mission!" They finished the song with a pose… then the rest of the girls clapped, I started to clap a second too late… still impressed and moved by all the hard work they put in this and I think all of us thought the same.

"You guys!" Honoka ran half-crying to them and hugged the three girls, Kotori followed Honoka and helped out with the hug.

"Sheesh… these girls." I crossed my arms with a smile, I looked sideways at Eli… _is she… of course she is cleaning a tear!_ "E-Eli…" I whispered at the blonde, who just flinched as I smiled.

"Come on, Umi-chan!" Nozomi grabbed Umi to make her join the group hug.

Eli exchanged a look with me before she walked to join to others… now it was just a big messy hug, I shook my head at them with a smile. "Maki… you are the only one missing." I flinched at Eli's words as my cheeks grew redder. "Don't make me go there for you…" Everyone was smirking at me.

"I-I don't…" They keep staring… "I…" _Too much eyes looking at me…_ "F-Fine!" I snorted with frustration and walked towards them, they all smiled as Eli and Honoka joined me in the hug. "This is so lame…" I muttered with a blush. Kotori and Hanayo were crying with a big smile.

"I just… I want to say that I am so happy! So happy to be together with all of you again…" Honoka was barely able to say, her eyes watered. "And I don't want us to be apart ever again!" _I have to agree, Honoka._

"I am sure everyone is happy… Hanayo, Rin, Nico… thank you for never giving up on us. It was like you were waiting for all of us to come back… so thank you." Eli voiced with pure honesty and I had look around… _this is just…_ everyone was at least with their eyes watered.

"I think is the best surprise I have received… not even my cards saw it coming." Nozomi was close to tears too. _Wait, but…_ I was moved too.

"And this is by far my favorite hug…" Hanayo voiced shyly, with some happy tears on her eyes.

"A-alright… one last hug before practice." Umi voiced, Eli and Honoka dragged me into the messy, big nine-person hug. We stood there for a couple seconds.

"And even Maki-chan is crying, nya! This is such a great day-"

"I-I am not crying!" I separated from them and I cleaned my watery eyes quickly. "Are we going to practice or not?" I couldn't stop my harsh tone as crossed my arms looking at them all, they were cleaning their eyes too. I smiled… _I am… so happy right now. The nine of us together again._

"Alright, time to practice!" Eli voiced cheerfully.

"Yeah!" The rest of the girls voiced simultaneously, all of us were smiling wide.

* * *

 **Ah! It took me a bit to finish it... and it ended up being very sentimental but happy (At least that's what I hope!). It took me a while because I went back and forward with it... and it's the end of season one finally lol! Like always: thanks for reading! ^^**


	12. Chapter 12 - Not yet

**Finally... sorry for the delay ;-; A lot of things happen in this chapter!**

* * *

 **Not yet.**

"Maki-chan!" I half-jumped in surprise as Nozomi suddenly appeared in front of me when we just finished our classes. "Where are they?" She voiced sharply, I had to flinch.

"W-what are you talking about?" But now the third year was giving me an angry look as she grabbed both of my shoulders.

"Explain it to me! Now." She voiced as she shook my shoulders, making my head confuse even more.

"What's going on, nya?" Rin and Hanayo appeared behind me.

"I have no-"

"To the music room!" The third year grabbed my arm and pulled me, making the two of us run down the hallway, _h-help me!_ I told Hanayo and Rin with my eyes… but it was too late.

"W-what is wrong with you?!" That's all I could mutter, _I have never seen Nozomi like this! She…_ I was panting when we reached to the music room. I rested my hand on my knees, catching my breath as Nozomi ran inside the music room, looking for something… like a predator looking for a prey. "Have you lost your mind? Not that I never thought it wasn't going to happen, but why now, Nozomi?" The girl gave me a sharp look that made me flinch, she walked towards me.

"Where are my cards, Maki-chan?" She pointed a finger at me, I just had to blink. _C-cards…_ "Don't pretend like you don't know!"

"N-Nozomi… I don't have your cards." I voiced nervously with my hands up, she crossed her arms, giving me an unamused angry look. _T-that's not the face of someone that believes in-_

"You took my cards. Give them back." She voiced simply, extending one of her palms… I smiled nervously. "Come on." She wiggled her fingers. "Or-"

"What is this?" I turn around and I sigh in relief as I look at the music room entrance… _It's Eli!_ "You two know it's prohibited to run down the hallways… especially when all the students and teachers are-"

"She took them, Elicchi!-"

"I did not!" I had to cut Nozomi off, but she gave me another sharp look. _Sheesh… she takes her fortune cards too seriously!_ "I don't have them, Nozomi." The third year turned around to face Eli once again, I just rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, looking away from her.

"She took my cards, Elichi…" _That… that sounded way too dramatic, Nozomi! Sheesh…_ Eli seemed to realize the situation, then she giggled. "This is not a laughing matter-"

"You left them at the student council…" Eli explained simply, I returned my gaze to Nozomi, she just flinched.

"Oh… right!" Then she gave me one of her soothing smiles. _T-this is your way to say sorry?_ "I forgot…" And just like that, she started to walk away.

"T-that's it? Now you are just calmly leaving me here?" Nozomi turned around just to give me a close eyed smile. "At least apologize-"

"We will be back soon, don't worry." Nozomi voiced before she left the room, Eli sighed and gave me a smile before she followed the other girl.

"Sheesh… and I am the troublesome one?" I shook my head as I smile at the silliness of the third year. _At least I am at the music room… time to work on that song._

…

"Maki-chan!" _W-what?-_ I hurt my knee with the piano… _Ugh! Now what!?_ I gaze towards the music room, my face blushed. _That smile… Nozomi…_ I walk towards the music room, looking at the third year through the small window.

"What do you want now?" I ask with my arms crossed in front of the door.

"Don't you remember our deal? We are here to finish our work!" _We?_ I tilt my head to notice a golden strand of hair behind Nozomi. I sigh loudly.

"Don't you have your office? And… why are we talking through the door?" I voiced with frustration. _Are they really coming here to work together?_ I flushed a bit. _No, this is my place…_

"The door is open, Nozomi…" I could barely hear Eli instructing the other girl.

"Oh!" Nozomi opened the door with a smile. "Time to work!" She stepped into the room and walked towards one of the tables, both of the girls had tons of papers with them. Eli gave me half-smile that said 'I'm sorry', I turned my gaze to Nozomi as I furrowed my eyebrow.

"I tried to stop her… but she can be very persistent" Eli voiced as she stood next to me, looking at Nozomi organizing some papers.

"What is wrong with her-"

"Don't worry! She has been talking too much with her cards and fortune, it happens from time to time. It will pass. She is just very enthusiastic about spending some time together, so…" And like that made perfectly sense, she walked towards Nozomi and sat next to her. I sighed deeply, _it will pass?_

"Alright… in what do I help?" I asked as I walked towards them, attempting to sit next to Eli.

"Oh, just play the piano Maki-chan." I flinched and blinked twice. "We don't need you right now." So now Nozomi was resting her head on her hand, all her focus was on me.

"N-no… I cannot?" I muttered to Nozomi, Eli just giggled nervously. "If you don't need me, what are you doing here? I-I can't play the piano while-"

"You have played for Honoka-chan. And Elicchi." I blushed at the accusation. "So of course you can do it…" She smirked at me.

"A-and why does that matter?-"

"Listen, Maki-chan, this is all about balance. Just don't fight against it." I looked at Eli, because I wasn't understanding a single thing Nozomi was saying.

"Well… let's all work in our own business. We all have things to do, right?" The blonde smiled at both of us and then continued her work. I snorted.

"Ugh…" I slowly walked to the piano, as I sat down I looked sideways… and Nozomi wasn't taking her eyes off me. I moved some papers on the stand, I could hear Eli was writing… _but Nozomi…_ _She is still looking at me!_ "I can't play if you are looking at me all the time, Nozomi!" I voiced with frustration and Eli sighed.

"If Maki doesn't-"

"We are your friends, Maki-chan… I can't see the problem." Nozomi said that with another smile.

"I just don't want to, Nozomi!" I voiced more angrily than I wanted… _it's just too embarrassing for me!_

"Nozomi-"

"Shh, Elichi, we are bonding!" Nozomi whispered that, but I heard everything and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"B-bonding?-"

"Yeah, don't you see?-"

"Okay! What Nozomi is trying to say is that Honoka, Umi and Kotori are shopping together; Rin, Hanayo and Nico are eating together, so…" Eli glanced at Nozomi, like waiting for her to explain. But she is not saying a thing, she is just looking at me… _So… Nozomi wants the three of us to bond too?_ "Ah! I have an idea, why don't we turn around?" This time both of us looked at Eli with confusion, the blonde grabbed her chair… so now she is sitting with the back turned to the piano. "This way we all can properly focus… okay Nozomi? Maki?" She glanced at both of us.

"I don't see Nozomi moving…" Nozomi gave me one last challenging look before she did the same as Eli.

"Perfect! Let's stop playing around…" Eli voiced with enthusiasm before she continued her student council assignments. Both of them are working, apparently… _hmm… 'We are your friends, Maki-chan'_ _Ugh… fine!_ "We need to finish this today…" I heard Eli talking to herself.

"Sheesh…" I snorted before I placed my fingers on the keys… so I started playing. I only played my favorite classic songs, _they are good for focusing on a task…_ I listen to them often as I study.

"Oh no…" I could hear Nozomi saying, but I just kept playing, I thought she was talking to Eli. "Maki-chan?" I stopped playing and I turned around to look at them.

"N-now what, Nozomi?" Eli gave herself a face palm.

"We need your help-"

"Are you kidding me!? I finally managed to play…" I stopped myself as I blushed at Nozomi's smile. _I..._

"You did, Maki-chan. See? It wasn't that hard-"

"Yeah, yeah… I can play in front of you two, what a big deal." I voiced sarcastically, but… It was actually kind of a big deal for me. I still tried to keep my music to myself but now… _I've been sharing it for a while, haven't I? At least with the Muse's._ I smiled at the piano… and I continued playing.

"Maki-chan?" I turned around with an unamused look, not surprised by Nozomi's interruption. But this time the two girls were looking at me with a smile. "I told you we needed your help?"

"Ah? Oh… I-I thought you were just bothering me once again?" I flushed as I stood up.

"We? I rather listen to Maki's piano, Nozomi…" I noticed Eli blushed for a bit… _Y-you are so embarrassing sometimes, Eli._

"But who is going to do the stamping?" And another smile from Nozomi, I glanced at the blonde…

"I can't believe you two." I sat on a chair in front of the two girls. "And I am the troublesome?" I asked to no one in particular as I grabbed the papers Nozomi conveniently had for me.

"Actually..." Nozomi looked at Eli.

"Yes, you are." Eli voiced simply with a smile. I snorted, but I also smiled.

"I kind of miss Maki's music now, though…" The spiritual girl said with a smirk.

"Can you let me work in peace for once?" I voiced as I grabbed the papers. Eli giggled and so did Nozomi… I had to laugh too. _This is so silly… Why the school needs so many seals for its documents anyway? I don't get it...  
_

—

"What was yesterday all about, huh?" I finally asked Eli when we parted ways with the others as we finished our practice. "All that 'bonding' thing?" Eli just giggled.

"Nozomi's cards… I thought you'd be used to that already." I half-smiled at her.

"How can anybody get used to that constant craziness?" We giggled together this time. "I actually enjoyed it… B-but more importantly, are you sure about Honoka?" She seemed confused for a second.

"Oh… about my nomination? Yes, I think she is the perfect replacement." She gave me a smile before we continued walking, I looked sideways at her.

"Don't you think Umi would be… hmm…" I gave it a better thought, _I doubt Umi enjoys speeches._ "Maybe you are right." Eli giggled and I smiled. "But what about you?"

"Huh? What about me?-"

"You love being the student president, and you are probably the best one ever at it, so…" _Okay, that might have sounded…_ Eli giggled at my words.

"You are flattering me, Maki… is not like I have a choice. Besides… I truly think Honoka has done a better job than me already-"

"Well, you are wrong. If you have not joined the Muse's we wouldn't-w-wait…" I stop my steps as I realize... "W-why are you walking me home?" I felt really embarrassed, even more when I glanced at Eli under the moonlight.

"Well… I don't know?" She blushed slightly. "I was just following you-"

"Don't follow me, just-"

"Onee-chan! Nishikino-san!" The both of us jumped in surprise. "What are you two doing here?" She said that with a big smile. I giggled, _Arisa was groceries-shopping?_

"A-Arisa… we were just walking home. You got us some dinner?" Arisa nodded and gave Eli the bag she had on her hand.

"Hmm… but home is _that_ way, Onee-chan…" She gasped. "Are you coming to our house, Nishikino-san?" The younger girl say that like she was eager to have a sleepover at her house.

"N-no I was just…" I notice one of Eli's eyes twitched when she looked inside the groceries bag. I had to stop myself from giggling.

"Arisa… this is not, hmm…" Eli gave Arisa nervous smile. "This is not food, but… don't worry! Its okay, we can go tomorrow-"

"Are you sure?" She quickly grabbed the bag again. "I'm sure this is food, right, Nishikino-san?"

"Hmm, no… they are not. B-but those are gummy bears!" I voiced as Arisa grabbed a package. "They are really good-"

"Yes, I love them! I bought two, just in case." I giggled with Arisa until I notice Eli was looking at us, entertained. I had to blush.

"Well, let's walk Maki to her house, then we'll go to the store…" The younger blonde smiled wide.

"You two don't have to walk me-"

"But we want to!" Arisa said with excitement, then she flinched. "Uh, sorry for interrupting, Nishikino-san-"

"Don't worry… a-and you can call me by my name." I started to curl my hair, Arisa seemed a bit confused. "It's not a big deal…"

"Is it allowed?" She asked her older sister. "Isn't Maki-chan my senpai?" I blushed at her words, I had to giggle silently.

"She is not your senpai… not yet. And you already called her by her name so why are you asking?" The two girls laughed and Eli placed her hand on her sister's head. I smiled at the scene… we were just in front of my house.

"W-why don't you two join me for dinner?" I asked that and I felt my face burning… _this is the polite thing to do, right?_

"Yes, senpai!-"

"A-Arisa…" _Senpai?_ I had to laugh, even though it was a bit embarrassing.

"Maki-chan, then?" The younger girl corrected herself.

"That's better… It's no trouble Eli. Besides, my parents aren't home… N-not that it matters!" I muttered the last words, but the blonde seemed about to reject the offer. "Let's go, Arisa-chan."

"Y-you live here? Harasho…" The young girl exclaimed as I opened the entrance. _I always eat dinner alone anyways…_

"M-Maki-"

"I have the gummy bears!" Arisa voiced following my lead.

"Just give up, Eli…" I smirked at the older girl as she snorted and entered the house.

"I will have to walk you home every day as a payment, at least." I just rolled my eyes, then I closed the door.

—

"I'm so glad we convinced Honoka to participate in the new Love Live…" I smiled at Eli, _I am also glad, actually…_ yesterday was quite the day. I guess the most surprising thing was Honoka's new ability… stop the rain. I glanced at Eli... _hmm, someone wants to win the contest this time_. I smiled... _I want to win too..._ I thought as I grabbed another paper.

"It was easier to convince her than I thought…" Nozomi smiled as she shuffled her precious cards. "Hmm…"

"You were wrong, though." Eli pointed out with a giggle to Nozomi. _Just a few more…_

"I wasn't wrong! Of course I thought Maki was going to be the one who refused to participate… It was what made sense. I guess I finally can say that I trained her-"

"Trained?" I furrowed my eyebrow when I noticed they were talking about me. "Trained me?" I asked sharply to Nozomi, she nodded as Eli giggled. "I-I am not a dog-"

"I like dogs, though." Eli voiced pensively.

"Me too!" They giggled and I had to stop myself from doing the same, _are they 10 years old or what?_ but a smile could be seen in my face.

"And you also thought I was going to refuse to participate in the Love Live?!" Nozomi nodded once again while Eli covered her laugh with a hand. "Why would you think that?" _O-Okay, maybe she is a bit right..._

"That's why I trained you…" Nozomi ignored the question and I rolled my eyes jokingly, it was still funny.

"Shut up, Nozomi. I'm busy." So I returned my focus to the work… "Is that it?" I asked Eli.

"Just…" The ex-student council president wrote a few words. "This one" She smiled at me and I grabbed the paper.

"Done!" I voiced with a smile when I stamped the last paper.

"See? Trained." Nozomi giggled and I gave her an unamused look.

"Ah, good job, Maki. That's it…" I extended the rest documents to Eli. "We officially ended with our student council term…" I grinned at the two girls... _I am so proud of them._

"Not thanks to Nozomi, though…" I smirked at the spiritual girl.

"Bad girl… sit!-"

"I am sitting!-"

"You guys… thank you." Eli cleaned a tear and I panicked.

"N-no, Eli! Don't cry…" I put my hands up awkwardly.

"I am… not crying. I'm just grateful for having you two. Nozomi-"

"Oh, Elichi!" Nozomi pulled Eli into a hug and I nervously looked around the room.

"I should just…" I stood up, _I should leave them alone-_

"Maki-chan! Join us" Nozomi voiced standing up with a smile, still hugging Eli.

"I-It's just… I-I mean, it's _your_ accomplishment, not mine I-"

"Come…" Nozomi extended an arm as Eli cleaned another tear.

"I don't think I-"

"Come…" Nozomi repeated and I glanced at Eli's watered eyes. I gulped nervously and I walked towards them.

"A-Alright I'm here. Now what?" Nozomi pulled me with one arm, Eli wrapped me with one of her arms and I awkwardly hugged the two girls.

"Elichi… thank you for trusting me into being your vice-president all this time, and more importantly, for letting me be your best friend." Eli smiled wide, her eyes still a bit watered… I caressed her back to comfort her. "Maki-chan…" I locked my eyes with Nozomi. "Thanks for letting me be your trainer, you are the best stamper I've seen." _I-I…_ I gave her an unamused look, fighting hard not to laugh.

"I'm just… you two are really important to me. Thanks for the constant support you two give me…" Eli sniffed, _sheesh this girl…_ I just grinned at her as I felt Nozomi bumping me. _Huh? M-Me?_

"I… hmm… you two are not leaving yet! So... thanks for letting me be the official stamper, even if it wasn't for that long." _But more importantly, thanks for letting me in…_ The three of us smiled for a bit, even though I was embarrassed. Eli took a deep breath when we finally ended the hug.

"Alright..." The blonde finally composed herself and she grabbed her documents. "I'll go take this to the director, wait for me here." I nodded at her as she left.

 _Not leaving 'yet'?_ I had to shake my head… I hated the thought of the third years leaving in just a few months. I hear Nozomi's evil laugh and I sighed. "She was crying already… do you still want to do this?"

"Of course I do! Don't betray me now, Maki-chan." I sighed as I walked to the piano.

…

 **Eli's POV:**

 _So this is it… I am not taking the credit for this, but at least the school didn't closed in my presidency._ I took a deep breath and I smiled. _And I don't think it will close any time soon, I can't wait to tell my grandma._ I opened the music room. "Well, I officially ended my work as the student council…" I noticed Maki was sitting, ready to play the piano and Nozomi was standing next to her. "W-what is this?"

"Maki-chan…" Nozomi voiced simply and Maki nodded, then she started to play some melody…

"H-Harasho…" _W-what are they doing?_ _It sounds beautiful… but…_ my eyes started to burn once again.

"It's a mystery, but nevertheless a coincidence" Nozomi started singing. _Oh no, they are not doing this!_  
"That in this place, we met at the stream of fate" I am trying hard not to…  
"It's a mystery, it finally changes" I had to clean another tear. _T-This is so beautiful…_

—

 **Continuing in Eli's POV:**

I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that day, it was too special for me... _I still hate how much I cried, though._ I stood there, looking a bit nervously at the booklet I had in my hand. I took a deep breath before I knocked on Maki's door, the gate was open so I guessed there was someone at the house. I straightened up when I hear the door opening…

"Oh! Ayase-San? Is good to see you" Maki's mom says with a smile and I smile back.

"Good evening, Miss Nishikino… sorry to intrude at this time, but Maki forgot one of her booklets" I giggled nervously at her, _she is so nice… but it's still kind of intimidating._

"Don't worry, come on in, please" She voices as gestures me to enter.

"T-thank you, is Maki here? Or is she still at the hospital?" Maki's mother looks at me with surprise for a second, but then she smiles and continues to walk, _I-I guess I'll follow her… Maki had to leave early today, I guess she is having a busy day.._

"She should get here soon, please join me for some-"

"Tea? I would love that, thank you" Maki's mother giggled. _O-Okay… now I am nervous. Definitely…_

"I do love my tea, dear."

...

 **Maki's POV:**

I was exhausted today… I almost forgot that we had an intensive at the hospital today, I literally had to run to get there in time. I sighed with relief as I got home… _Finally!_

"I'm home" I say as I enter, both of my parents should be here today, which is unusual. _But dinner with my mom and papa is always nice._

"Welcome home, we are in the kitchen" _We? Huh? Papa got here early?_ I enter to the kitchen and… T-There's Eli drinking tea with my mom. I opened my eyes wide. _W-What?_

"E-Eli what are you-"

"Sorry to bother Maki, it's just that you forgot one of your booklets" _I did?_ I look at my music booklet in her hands and I have a mini-heart attack, so I grab it quickly and I turn around.

"Maki's friends are never a bother, you're free to come anytime you want" I open my booklet and I sigh in relief, Eli seems to notice _. It's one of the empty ones… I'm so glad._ "I say that to you and the rest of the girls." I turn around to watch my mom sip some tea. "If only she invited all of them..." I rolled my eyes.

"T-thank you, Miss Nishikino..." I felt a bit speechless by the scene, hugging my booklet with relief as looked at both of them… _Huh? My mother looks at me like…_

"Oh! T-thank you, Eli… You should have waited for tomorrow, sorry for the trouble..." I voice as I curl my hair.

"Ah, don't worry, I know how important they are for you, so…" She says, giggling nervously and finishing her tea. I can't help but smile… _So you didn't look inside it?_

"Ayase-san, you and the muses should plan another trip, right Maki?" My mom looks at me and I look surprised at her. "Well, I've told that to her repeatedly, but she is not the one to plan a trip…" They giggle together and I roll my eyes.

"Well, we did had a great time at your beach house. I should thank you again for that, Miss Nishikino" Eli says with a polite smile. _How does she do it?!_

"You should try our cabin at the mountains, the weather is going to be nice this month." _Why, mother, why… not another trip!_ "And Maki loves that place, right dear?" I blush intensively. _Only when we go together on the holidays!_

"T-that sounds like fun" Eli mutters a bit shyly at the proposal.

"I'm home!" I hear the front door opening and I flinch… then I face palm myself. _Papa is here… can this get more awkward?_

"Darling, this is Ayase-san, one of Maki's friends" My mother says as my father enters to the kitchen with a tired smile.

"Ah! It's so nice to meet you, Ayase-san." My dad shakes hands with Eli, and now I can notice she is nervous. Not as much as me, though. _Ugh, i don't like this..._ "It's good to see you, where are the other seven?" He jokes and I just keep curling my hair, looking away.

"Good afternoon, sir." Eli says politely and laughs nervously. "Well, they are not here today… I-I was just giving Maki something she forgot." _Ha! Eli is a bit blushed? Finally, I am not the only one embarrassed here…_

"Ayase-san, would you like to join us for dinner?" _W-what!?_ I glance at the blonde, she seems a bit shocked and she is blushing intensively.

"I-I don't want to bother, really. A-and my sister is waiting for me." She laughs nervously. "But thank you for the offer!"

"Oh, your little sister." _And how does she know?!_ "Well, you two should joins us one day. Or all the muse's, perhaps" My dad is drinking a cup of tea too.

"M-Mom, no! Ugh!" I grab Eli's arm. "Eli, I'll escort you outside!" I quickly begin to pull her out of the kitchen. _They need to be stooped!_

"O-okay. Thanks for everything, Sir, Miss-"

"Goodbye, Ayase-san." That's all my parents manage to say before I get her out there. I sigh with relief when I close the door behind me. _Saved…_

"M-Maki are you alright-"

"Y-yes! Why?" I mutter, maybe too nervously. Eli looks at me for a few seconds before she sighs,

"I wasn't going to stay for dinner but… Well, if you really hate it that much when I go to your house…" She looks away and I blink twice, _h-hate?_

"N-no, no! I-It's not that! I just…" I sigh, _you are horrible, Maki!_ "Let's just walk" Eli starts walking but I notice sideways that she still seems hurt… "I-it's just that…" She crosses her arms, looking at me. "I get embarrassed, okay?" I feel my face burning, _it's just that my parents can be… ugh._

"Yeah, I know that you get embarrassed way too easily…" She says a bit harshly, but she looks at me with a smile. "I just… I enjoy your company a lot so-"

"It's not that I wanted you to go!" Eli looks surprised for a second and I blush yet again. "I-it isn't that I wanted you to stay either!" Eli giggles at me.

"You are so-"

"Troublesome? Yes, I get that a lot…" I look away, still feeling a bit guilty for making her feel that way. "It was because of Arisa-chan, you can't leave her alone at night." I say as I cross my arms. Eli laughs.

"That's cute. Thank you, Maki." I blush even harder know…

"S-so… You didn't checked my booklet, right?" _Let's subtlety change the subject, Maki_ …

"Huh? Of course I didn't…" The blonde voiced with some confusion, I giggled at her.

"I know you didn't. It was an empty one, you know? That's why you shouldn't have worried-"

"Empty? That doesn't seem like you, you're always writing music…" _Ugh, now she seems worried…_ "But now that you mention it, I haven't seen you..." _  
_

"A-ah… Of course I have some songs… but they are at my house, s-so…"I get surprised at my words and I flinch. _Great, I didn't wanted to admit I have made other music… But also I didn't wanted to admit I can't write anything right now..._ _It's been two weeks..._ but I just can't.

"Hmm, are you okay, Maki?" Eli asks me, she seems rightfully concerned now. "You have been acting weird-"

"I-it's nothing, I…" I look away but then I can't stop myself from looking at Eli, _those blue eyes… I-I give up._ "I just been kind of, lacking… in the music creativity aspect, I guess." I curl my hair, as we now stand in front of her building entrance.

"Are you having an artist's block?" I had to avoid her eyes. _Exactly..._

"Ugh, I guess so…" But now I look at her and she gives me a warm smile.

"Don't worry, Maki! That happens from time to time, you're such a good musician I know you'll get through this soon… What you need to do is to distract yourself a bit." I feel equally warm and embarrassed right know. "Maybe we can go to the movies tomorrow…" She voices pensively and I straighten up at the idea. "Right! A trip to the mountains would do wonders to you, some nature and fresh air!" Eli says with excitement, _great, my mom's ideas are already in her head!_

"T-that's not necessary!" I curl my hair again. "It doesn't sound like a good-"

"You don't have to say yes right now, just think about it, okay?" _Ugh, she warms me with her smile again._ At this point, I just nod… she puts her hand on my head with affection. "I would invite you to dinner but I'm sure your parents are waiting for you…"

"Y-yeah, I-I should go." _She makes me feel so…_

"Bye, Maki! See you tomorrow! And don't worry, we will figure something out." I can't stop a smile, _sheesh… she worries too much._ Right now, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by all this support from Eli. _B-But she's always like that…_

"B-bye." I say as I walk away, she stays there looking at me at the entrance, like she always does. _At least when I walk her home…_ I feel nervous as I walk back to my house. I-I don't know what got into me, is not usual that I talk about… my stuff. _Ugh, Eli makes it almost so easy… How does she do it?_ I was… secretly happy that I talked to Eli and even more secretly smiling because of her words. _She really cheered me up. Not that that's going to work with my creativity, though…_ I sigh deeply. "I'm back…"

—

 **Eli's POV:**

I was sitting at my student council desk… or what it once was _my_ desk. Organizing some papers I had to give Honoka, or that is what I was trying to do. I sighed as I rested my head on my hand, looking through the window… _Now, how can I help her?... Hmm... Of course I care about her. I care about all my friends and specially all of the Muse's. I'm just a protective person, right? Yes, that's right… there's no difference between them… is not like I want her to-_ I flinched as my cheeks started to burn. _Ah! What's wrong with me?_ I crossed my arms over the desk, resting my head on then, still looking outside the window. _What I am going to do?_ I sighed loudly as I hide my head between my arms. _Maki…_ I felt my checks get even redder.

"Eli? Are you okay? I was looking for you…" I jumped with surprise, meeting the redhead with a worried look in her eyes, she smiled when I looked at her.

"M-Maki-" I coughed to regain some composure. "I-I'm fine, why?" I had to look away, _my cheeks are not returning to normal anytime soon with Maki here. Not after I-_ I shook my head.

"Hmm, you where resting on the desk, are you feeling sick?" Maki sat down with one chair between us. "You already ate lunch?" She gave me a smile and once again I had to avoid her eyes…

"I-I'm not sick, just tired." _I might as well be sick though,_ I glanced at Maki and she seemed unsure about my response. I giggled nervously. "Let's eat together then, it's been a while since I ate lunch here…" Maki grinned in response as we took our first lunch bite. I felt… sadness? Worry? I didn't know… _I've been lying to myself for a while now. But now I can't deny it…_

"What are you doing here alone?" _huh?_ "I mean, I thought you were with Honoka, but she was about to eat with the others" Maki giggled. "So it's going to take a while for her to come, that girl loves bread too much…" We laughed, but I had to look away from Maki once again… _She looks so cute when she laughs…_

"I just wanted to prepare some documents for her, she will need some help until she adjusts" I explained, I noticed sideways that Maki nodded in agreement.

"Yeah… I don't know how she is going to do it, you were too good at this." I blushed at the compliment and the redhead seemed to notice. "I-I mean! You are very diligent and organized and all, on the other hand-"

"But that's why Umi and Kotori are with her." I responded simply, _I need to control myself… I can't just blush every time I look or think about…_ I sighed with frustration as my face flush. "T-They will be fine!"

"Yeah, I know she will. Honoka always exceeds the expectations." Maki said and giggled, I just smiled stupidly. "So… I've been thinking."

"Y-Yes?" I asked to encourage her to talk.

"Well, maybe we could go to a trip to my cabin in the mountains? I-I mean, the nine of us…" I giggled at her.

"No luck with the music inspiration?" She looked away for a second… but then she shook her head. _What can I do to help you, Maki?_

"I just… I thought it might be helpful, m-maybe is a bad idea." She started to curl her hair, _to clear her mind. That's all Maki needs!_

"I think it's a great idea!" _I need to help her... but how? The least I can do is plan the trip myself.  
_

The redhead seemed to remember something. "But I have been reading that book sequel, remember?" I blinked, remembering our summer trip. "Well, it's getting really good… you wouldn't guess what it happened. I'll give it to you when I finish." I was grinning hugely, _the way she talks..._

"Tell me more, it sounds interesting-"

"I am not going to ruin it for you-"

"Come on, you are not ruining it..." I half begged, smiling at her. _I do want to know. Besides, who knows when I'll be able to read the book? And I enjoy so much when Maki talks like this…_

"Ugh, fine… your puppy eyes can be so annoying..." _Puppy eyes?_ I blushed instantly, but Maki didn't seem to realize what she just said. "Well, after all that, guess what she did?" ' _Your puppy eyes'… No, I'm sure she doesn't mean it like-_ "Are you listening?"

"Y-Yeah! She did what?" I returned my mind to the actual conversation.

…

"That's what I thought! But I'm not so sure anymore… but I am not telling you anything else, I want you to read it." That smile of hers… makes me smile. _I am... hopeless._

"Eli-chan you are here!" Maki and I turn our attention towards the door, we can see Honoka followed by Umi, Kotori and Nozomi. "Oh, and Maki-chan is here too!"

"She is the official student council stamp-"

"I am not any of that anymore." Maki cut Nozomi off as she got flustered. I smiled, for a hundred time today.

"But we have so much to do… Maki-chan you should help us too!" Honoka grinned.

"There are three members now! And Eli's been here waiting for you..." Maki gave me a glance as she stands up. _I bet she is going to the music room…_ "You should get to work! Even though Nozomi, well, she is not that helpful…" She smirked at the spiritual girl.

"Maki-chan, Maki-chan…" Nozomi calmly said, shaking her head. I giggled at the two girls. Maki was about to respond but decided to just snort and leave. _I am so hopeless… I like every single gesture of hers._ I look at her red hair disappearing from the room... _Good luck with your music, Maki!_

"She is right, we should get to work" I voiced with some authority… _I guess I can't just get rid of my president tone._

"That's what I've been telling Honoka! But no, she needs to take her time with lunch…" Umi sighed with frustration as the rest of the girls sat down in their respective seats.

"We all need to recharge before work, even Honoka-chan." Honoka nodded quickly at Kotori's words.

"You spoil her too much! And she is taking a huge responsibility, being the student president is not anything!" I looked at Nozomi and she just smiled at me… then we just giggled at the scene.

* * *

 **Hope the chapter was enjoyable! I can't stop myself from writing about their friendship and... using really silly humor. (can't help it... and I did tried haha)**

 **I know it covered a lot... but (at least in my mind) the story is FINALLY picking up. I had to develop on the nozoelimaki trio at least a bit. A note to myself: I really need to plan better the chapters, because I just write and write and it all ends up too long... but we are finally progressing *yay* and btw, I love all characters, so I hope i am doing a half-decent job with them...**

 **Have a great day/week/month and thanks for reading! ^^U**


	13. Chapter 13 - First drop

**Quick update!**

* * *

 **First drop.**

* * *

 **Maki's POV:**

 _The Love Live is getting closer…_ and our practices are getting even more intense. _But…_ I keep staring into nothing special as I let my mind overthink. The ring bell wakes me up, so I shook my head as I stand up, grabbing my bag.

"H-help…" _Huh? That was definitely Hanayo…_ I turn around, just to see Rin staring at the other first year. I sigh, _great. Now what?_

"Kayo-chin?" Rin seems as confused as me. The other girl flinches at whatever she seems to be reading on her phone. I take a sharp breath. _Oh no, that face…_

"Get everyone to the rooftop!" I blink twice as Hanayo runs out of the room, Rin and I exchange some concerning looks before we follow the other girl. _I bet this is about the Love Live…_

"N-now what?" I had to mutter as Rin ran away, diligently following Hanayo's orders.

"I'll get the second years, nya!" I had to shake my confusion away, _'get everyone to the rooftop!'_ … _Alright, then._

"Ugh-" I bumped into someone as I jogged down the hallway. "S-sorry-Nozomi!" _Here they are!_ Behind Nozomi was Eli, and Nico's head could be seen just behind her, she was about to protest.

"What are you-"

"There's no time, we are having a meeting at the rooftop." I interrupt the dark haired girl and I turn around, expecting them to follow me. I had to grin, keeping the mystery alive. "Come on!" I voiced simply before I walked upstairs and I could bet they were as confused as I was just a minute ago. After a few seconds, I hear some steps behind me.

"W-what's going on?" Eli asked with evident confusion. I turn around to face the third years as I grad the doorknob of the rooftop.

"Hanayo apparently found out something-"

"Hanayo!?" So Nico ran past me with urgency, rapidly opening the door. I rolled my eyes, o _f course she knows it has to be something important about the Love Live._

"Ah! Things are lively today…" Nozomi voiced as we walked into the rooftop, just to find Rin, Honoka, Umi and Kotori. Each one of them were waiting impatiently on their own way.

"Nya, where's Kayo-chin?" Rin asked, she was obviously uneasy about Hanayo not being here. "Should I-"

"It's bad news." I jumped in surprise at the low voice behind me. _W-when did Hanayo…_

"H-Hanayo?" Eli asked while the first year closed the door behind her, Hanayo looked so… serious. _And kind of scary…_

"W-what?" The rest of the girls asked.

"What do you mean by that?!" Nico took a step forward, the girls were on edge, waiting for a response. _Bad news? Great._

"It's bad news." _You already said that, Hanayo!_ "We will need to…" She took a deep breath as she proceeded to look her phone screen. "Only unreleased songs should be used for all competitions." She finished almost too dramatically, but… _U-unreleased songs means…_ I gulped. There were a few seconds of shock before someone talked, but I felt the panic taking over me… internally.

"So we can't use any of our songs…" Honoka pointed out. _Perfect timing… Just perfect! How am I supposed to compose like this?!_ I tried everything, I just couldn't do it. It's been days like this.

"That means… We have less than a month or we won't be able to perform." Eli voices sharply as she steps forward and I gulp once again, the memory of my failed attempt yesterday makes me freak out on the inside. _H-how am I going to… If I can't do it, then-Hmm?_ I notice Eli is looking at me sideways, I look away from her. _This is not good…_

"Ha! I can't see the problem… I have multiple poems for all-"

"What are we going to do?" Nozomi voiced, ignoring her fellow third year.

"Did you just ignored me!?" Nico voices angrily to Nozomi, who just responds with a tender smile. Nico snorts and looks away.

"We need to do something!" Honoka mutters helplessly, this time I am the one glancing at Eli… who seems very pensive. _I know that face, Eli…it's the face of trouble!_

"It's simple, we just have to make new songs." The blonde voices to all of us and looks down, still pensive. _No, Eli!_ I could imagine her brain in full planning mode.

 **FLASHBACK TO THIS MORNING:**

"Still no luck, Eli…" She didn't had to ask, I knew what she wanted to say but I still avoided her eyes. I was frustrated, _I've never been so long like this… not a single melody sounded right to me lately and it was not for lack of trying._

"Hey…" She places her hand on my shoulder, making me look at her. "It will be alright." She voices calmly, _that smile_ … it almost makes me think she is right.

"W-what if I lost my…" I curled my hair as I voiced my insecurity.

"Not possible." Eli pointed out, putting all the confidence in myself that I lacked right now. I couldn't stop a smile… "I've told you, you just need to distract yourself!" _How? I only think about the song we need and…_ I shook my head as I blushed. _Embarrassing._ "Ah! What about your cabin? You told me it was a good idea, right?" Eli exclaimed as we took a step inside the school, like she just remembered some good news, I had to look away.

"Why are you pretending you just remembered that?" If I weren't nervous, I would be laughing. It was so obvious Eli really wanted another trip.

"Do you think your mom will be okay if we-"

"Ugh, she been annoying me with that, too!" _She keeps saying it would be good to me but why?!_ I opened my eyes wide as I realized... "I-I mean… She doesn't want us to go-"

"You are such a bad liar, Maki." The blonde giggles next to me. "She probably notices that you are stressed…" Eli says that like she was thinking out loud. _That makes sense…_ The thought of other people realizing my frustration made want to punch myself.

"S-Stressed? I am not-"

"Alright, alright, I won't force you…" She crossed her arms, locking her eyes with mine. "Yet… We will talk later." She gave me a big smile and a quick pet on my head before she left. I blinked as I stared at Eli walking away… That's when I noticed… I glance around just to see some girls of my class talking secretly, giggling and staring at me. _That had to look so… ugh, embarrassing!_ I rushed to my seat, knowing my face was completely red.

 **END OF FLASHBACK.**

"But how?" Umi had to ask just when Eli locked her eyes with mine.

"Maki!" Eli voiced sharply and I flinched…

"U-uh? Don't tell me…" I muttered in response, _I knew it…_ I thought, knowing exactly what she was about to say.

"You got it!" I had to smile nervously at the blonde as she looks to the rest of the girls. "We are going on a camping trip!" Eli voices way too dramatically and I sigh, _she can be SO persistent._ I hear some surprised muttering, then excitement. _Sheesh…_ I had to giggle at the blonde. _I guess I can't refuse now…_ but a big part of me felt already better, _I do love our cabin by the woods and some fresh air, but..._ After Eli's words, everyone was exited. _I am still worried, though…_ All the girls were chatting happily now.

"We will need repellent, an axe…" _An axe?!_ But I seemed to be the only one who heard Umi's low voice as she was writing a list. _Why would you need an axe, Umi?!_

"I wonder if I have enough rice…" Hanayo asked to herself as Rin just jumped repeatedly with excitement. _They are so hopeless!_ Eli and Nozomi were talking about other preparations we had to make.

"I'll bring the best sweets ever!" Honoka yelled happily.

...

I had mixed feelings… on one side, I really loved visiting the mountains. It was calm and quiet, the perfect place to read all day, but… _'We just have to make new songs!' It won't work!_ "-Maki?" I turn around, forgetting my own dilemma as I glanced at Eli, we were walking together back to our homes. "You don't have to worry about anything!" I giggled silently at her. _Ah, at least someone is excited about our trip…_ "But remember to ask your parents-"

"Sheesh, you know they won't say no…" Eli just smiled at me before she got her fist up, like she was claiming a victory. "You are so excited about this, have you been planning this all along?" I had to smile at her as she flushed a bit.

"Not really… but I know how much you need it, so it makes me happy that we are finally going." She gave me one of her big smiles and I blushed… _S-she is not doing it just for me…_

"I-I don't need anything…"

"I will take care of everything! You don't need to worry at all." _That smile and… does she seem a bit blushed, too?_ "Just… take a break from composing, music, piano, all that okay?" I furrowed an eyebrow. "You have been pushing yourself too much, promise me you'll do something different? You can read all you want." I was certainly confused by her advice. "Trust me on this." Her blue eyes were looking intensively at me… I had to look away. _You worry too much…_

"Alright, I'll do it." She gave me one of her reassuring smiles, which made me a lot calmer. She seemed to hesitate before she gently placed her hand on my head.

"That's your house, I'll call you tomorrow!" She smiled and turned away, I stood there as Eli waved at me… _how does she make me feel like everything will be alright? This is our last chance, the third years will be gone after this…_ Eli left my eyesight quickly, she was definitely in a hurry. I smiled before I sighed as I entered my house.

...

...

...

I nodded to myself as I stared at the folded clothes and other stuff on my bed. I nodded again… _I think that's everything we?_ I could hear my phone vibrating on my desk… I wasn't surprised by who was calling me.

"Eli?" I answered and a little smile appeared as I sat down on my chair.

"Hi Maki! You have everything ready?" I had to stop myself from giggling at her enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I do." I voiced simply as I glanced to the ceiling.

"You have the key? Your ID? I thought we should review the road to-"

"Slow down Eli!" This time I laughed for real. "I have everything we need."

"I just wanted to be sure…" Eli giggled nervously. "Your mom called me yesterday, so…" It sounded like Eli wanted me to know, but at the same time she didn't wanted me to get mad.

"W-what?" I rolled my eyes, _so that is why she was acting weird as we ate dinner!_

"Someone needs to be the responsible-"

"Now I am irresponsible?" I asked bitterly, but I was actually smiling.

"Hmm… now that you said so…" I had to furrow my eyebrow, she was about to tease me. "You kind of are, sometimes. I hope you've been keeping yourself distracted? "

"Well, I've not touched my piano if that's what you mean by-"A weird noise came from the phone, like something fell to the floor.

"Blyad!" The expression made me blink twice.

"What?" I voiced just before I laughed.

"My glass just fell…" Eli voiced with frustration, she seemed busy. "Okay, yeah… I dropped it." I giggled at her.

"No, I mean… what did you said?" Silence. But I could picture the blonde's flinch. "Did you just swear?" I had to chuckle.

"Me? I did not-"

"It sounded like it." _Her face with red cheeks_. I smirked.

"You are wrong… I'm just a bit sleepy-a-and, you should be sleeping!" It was weirdly cute to hear Eli like that… swearing, then embarrassed, sleepy. If I had to choose one Eli, it would be the blushed one… _I think? Maybe-_ "Hello?"

"Y-yes? " I flinched as I blushed, _w-what were you thinking, Maki?!_

"Are you sleepy too? I thought you will tease me…" She giggled, but I just kept battling with my flush. "Alright, everything is ready. We all be by your house early so-"

"Go to sleep! I know, I know…" I start curling up my hair, glancing at my bed. I noticed Eli was about to talk. "I'll rest, no music tonight… Goodnight Eli." It took a few seconds for her to respond, I pictured her smile.

"Night, Maki!" She voiced cheerfully just before the call ended. I dropped the phone on my bed as I lay down, looking to the ceiling. _Maybe she was right… I love our cabin, the woods are relaxing… It's going to help me, right?_ I sure hoped. I took a deep breath… _'If I had to choose one Eli'_ it's like my thoughts were making fun of me. "Ugh!" I grabbed my pillow, covering my face with it. My face and my embarrassment…

* * *

 **I know, I know... It's been so long! I'm sorry! But the story will continue... hopefully next chapters won't take long. I've just been lacking in the free time department. Also, please, any mistakes you see in the story you can gladly point them out to me ^^ I'll appreciate it, because I'm bad at checking them out myself...**

 **pd: anyone willing to be a beta reader? hmm... maybe that's what I need.**

 **Anyways! Have an awesome day/night/anything!**


	14. Chapter 14 - Don't worry

**Finally... an update! Fun fact: I lost this chapter not once, not twice... but THREE TIMES! ... So frustrating! And three times I've meant to update only to lose it again. But here it is, finally! I honestly just wanted to post it, so i did not proof read it that much. Anyways, I hope 1) you had a great day. and 2) you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

 **Don't Worry.**

"Maki..." _Huh?_ I kept my eyes shut. "Maki, dear..." _Ugh! What now_?

"W-what's going on?" I asked, trying not to sound grumpy, as I scratched my eyes. It was my mother. She smiled at me.

"We have a visitor." I blinked in surprise. I glanced towards the window... it's still dark outside.

"Who is it?" I asked as I tried to wake myself up, I didn't had a good night sleep. _i need to pull myself together, we need that song._

"One of your friends." I opened my eyes wide. "You should go down, I need to go already and I don't want to leave her alone..." She whispered as I jumped out of my bed. _It is way too early! Who can it be?_ I proceeded to walk downstairs, right behind my mother. I see someone downstairs, standing still with a big smile.

"U-Umi...?" I voiced in a confusing tone, adjusting my eyes to the light. "W-what are you doing here?" Umi gave an even more confused look.

"I thought we will meet by your house..." _I know that but..._ I looked towards the big clock we had. _It's 5 am!_

"It's 5 am, Umi! What the-" _Why... why all my friends are insane?..._ "And who is behind you-wait." Is that… _She has a backpack bigger than her! Where does she think we are going!?_

"Exactly! We all need to get ready!" _How can she be like this!_ I don't rub my temples often, but it was required this time.

"Dear, you should eat some breakfast... and call me when you get to the cabin, alright?" She kissed the top of my head. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sonoda-san." My mother gave Umi a big smile.

"Thank you, Nishikino-san!" She said goodbye politely, and my mom left... I glanced towards Umi once again. "Isn't it exiting, Maki?" Her eyes were lighting up.

"Give me a break..." I mumbled to myself. "I definitely need food to get through this day." I heard a loud rumble sound... I furrow my eyebrow towards Umi, who was blushed. "You... forgot to eat? You have to be kidding me!"

"I-I did not forgot..." She looks away from me. "I just had too much stuff in my mind, so..." I snorted as I walked to the kitchen.

"Come on... the food is over here." Umi jumped with excitement. _Is she a kid or something? She is acting like Honoka!_ We proceeded to eat food in silence, both of us were hungry after all. I gave another look to Umi's backpack... "And where-" The ring bell stopped my own words.

"Ah! Must be the others!" _Didn't we agreed on getting here at 8am!?_ I sighed with frustration as I got to the door. _They are going to give me a migraine one of these days..._ I thought as I opened the door. _Huh?_ It was Eli... who had her hands on her knees, catching up her breath.

"Maki! I came here as fast as I could..." She straightened herself up. _Okay… but why?_ "Why you didn't tell me that we were going out three hours earlier?" She suddenly blushed. "A-And why are you in your pajamas?" It was my turn to blush.

"Ugh! I am _so_ going to kill her! Come on in!" I voiced to Eli, who seemed a bit confused. I walked to the kitchen, I gave Umi an unamused look as she kept eating. Eli peeked from behind me. Umi seemed to notice our presence so she turned around to face us.

"Ah, Eli! I knew at least one of you would be here early." _Umi is not acting like herself at all! Am I dreaming or something?_

"You told me everyone was here... I thought I got the time of the meeting wrong..." Eli seemed a bit confused. But I noticed she was looking at the food... _Are you hungry too?_

"Yeah, I called everyone telling them that. Just so they wouldn't be late." Eli and I exchanged some looks. _It does makes sense but..._ I sighed loudly.

"Alright, let's just eat." I sat down, _at least I am going to finish my food. So then I can have enough energy to kill Umi._ I looked at Eli, she wasn't sitting down. I knew she was hungry, she was glancing around awkwardly. "Hey... you can eat too, you know?" Her face light up.

"R-really?" She sat down quickly. "T-thank you, Maki!" She took a bite of bread.

"See what you just did?" I asked Umi. "You made her go out of her house without eating..."

"Can you pass me the jam, Eli?" Umi just ignored what I said. _She is not Umi, she is a child!_

"S-sure..." The blonde just did what she was asked to.

"What are you? A seven year old or something?" I asked rather harshly to the second year.

"What a nice day!" Umi voiced happily as she ate. _Nice?! I barely slept, how is it nice?!_

"It's still dark out-" Eli hit me with her elbow and giggled to make me shut up. _I guess she is finding Umi's actions amusing._ I sighed as I leaned back on my seat. I finished my food. I glanced towards Eli... who had a nice outfit on her. If something looks nice today, that's Eli for sure.

"Huh?" Eli seemed to notice I was looking at her. "Want some?" She gave me a smile... I just blushed as hard as the strawberries we had in a bowl.

"N-no! Sheesh... You two are so troublesome! I am going to get changed!"

 **Eli's POV:**

I had to blink twice at Maki's reaction. _W-was she looking at me, or..._

"Don't worry. She can't hide her excitement, we are having a trip after all." I had to giggle nervously at Umi... _You call that excitement, Umi? It's funny you are the one saying that._

"I-I forgot my water..." I hear Maki's voice behind me. She stepped in, I saw her face as red as her hair. "W-what?" I quickly shook my head in response. She snorted before she left.

"Maki didn't sleep that good last night." Umi explained simply before she took a drink of her juice.

"H-how do you know?" A thought crossed my mind... "Did you slept here, or-"

"Ah, no, I got here at 4.30am." She said like that totally made sense.

"H-harasho..." That's all I could say as my eye twitched. _I guess that's why we have Grumpy Maki today._

 _..._

 **Maki's POV:**

It was a long morning. Everyone got to my house at different times... Honoka and Kotori were the last ones. Umi called them a thousand times, at least. She thought Kotori had Honoka controlled but... it took the other girl a while to wake her up. I felt a little better when we stepped out of the train, _I might had slept a bit..._ with that and the nice air, I was starting to feel refreshed. All the girls were happily chatting about the place.

"Stop showing off! Hmph!" Nico voices angrily.

"I-I am not trying to show off anything!" _They were the ones who started randomly complimenting me!_

"C-calm down, you two... we should just head to the cabin, right?" Eli asked happily, always trying to avoid a confrontation. Nico and I snorted at the same time.

"Umi-chan, what's with the bag?" Kotori finally asked what all of us wouldn't dare to.

"What's wrong with it? Is it a tarantula there?" Umi asked without the usual fear of someone who ask it there's a tarantula on her back.

"No, it's just… Isn't it… kind of big?" Eli pointed out. _Its half her size..._

"Big? This is called 'being prepared'. And, for the record, I don't think you all prepared enough." Umi answered matter of factly. I sigh, I'm sure Umi brought all kind of pesticides and survival tools… "Okay! Let's get going!" _I just hope she did not bring that axe..._ I thought she was joking before. But now I'm not so sure. "The mountain is calling us!"

"C-could it be... that Umi is _really_ into hiking?" Eli voiced softly.

"I just hope she is not as unreasonable as in our last trip..." Nico said with certain worry in her voice. _Those 10km where stitched in the older girl memories._

"Alright, we will miss the bus if we don't get going." I told the rest of the girls, so we all marched on behind Umi. _It is kind of… quiet here._

* * *

...

* * *

After we realized we accidentally left Honoka at the train – actually, she just fell asleep there - well, it took us a bit, but we finally arrived to the cabin. We stood in front of it... and I already expected the worst.

"Ahhh!" Everyone exclaimed, impressed.

"You never cease to amaze me, Maki." Eli voiced and I just kept glancing down.

I just ignored everyone's comments until we got inside the place.

"... A fireplace!" Honoka voiced with excitement. I furrowed my eyebrow. _Everything but that!_

"Amazing!" Rin follows Honoka's turmoil. "It's my first time seeing one! Can we light some-"

"We won't." I voice with pure seriousness to shut them off. The two of them gave me some puppy eyes, they know they won't work on me. "It's not _that_ cold yet! Besides, I need to keep it clean as always, Papa told me it's hard for Santa-san to come if the fireplace is dirty." I cross my arms, making my point clear.

"Papa?" Honoka exclaims.

"Santa-san?" Rins follows once again, they exchange some looks.

"That's so cute!" Kotori voices softly, I'm not quite sure what she is talking about...

"Your father sounds nice, Maki-chan." I smile at Umi's words. _He is._

"It's my job to keep the chimney clean, so Santa-san can come here every winter." I smile proudly. I take this cabin serious, it's an important place for me. I don't spend much time with my parents but when we are here... we are together all the time, this cabin just feels like family to me. And we often come here on the winter holidays. _Huh?_ I notice Eli has her eyes wide open… _is she blushed, too?_

 **Eli's POV:**

 _I-I... never expected this from Maki... this is too much for me..._ I look at the redhead and I can't help but smile. _She is so cute, she has more than one sweet and innocent side... My heart hurts, Maki!_

"Y-You are..." I could hear Nico suppressing her laughter. _Oh, no._ "Believing in-"

"Nico-chan!" Hanayo voices as we both jump to stop Nico, I grab the small girl by her shoulders.

"Nico, don't you dare..." I start shaking her up, hard, and giving her my deadliest stare. _Over my dead body!_

"Ow, what's your problem-"

"Don't. You. Dare." I repeat as sharply and intimidating as I can.

"It could change Maki's life, nya!" Rin whispers towards the dark haired girl.

"But it's Maki we are talk-"

"Ugh!" I grab Nico from behind, covering her mouth. _Not on my watch!_

"Huh? What's going on?" I hear Maki's voice, she seems confused.

 **Maki's POV:**

"N-nothing!" Honoka exclaims nervously, waving her hands.

"Hmm..." They are definitely acting stranger than usual... I stare at the weird scene, Eli was still covering Nico's mouth and the others seemed petrified. _It might just be the fresh air. I hope it won't last long, thought._

"O-okay! Everyone go get your bags and stuff ready, we don't have much time so we should practice soon." Eli said with her student president tone, she was still grabbing Nico. Until Nozomi took her from her arms, guiding her away from the room. Eli sighed in relief. I walked next to her, the rest of the girls hurried to choose a bedroom.

"Just when you thought they couldn't act weirder..." Eli glanced at me and we giggled.

"Ah! Thanks for reminding me..." _Reminding you what exactly?_ She took her phone out... "Hello? Nishikino-san?" I opened my eyes wide. "Yes, we all arrived safely... I-It is a nice place indeed. We will make sure to leave it in perfect conditions." I gave Eli an angry look, she just averted her look from me. "Yes, of course..." She extended her phone towards me, she was blushed and even a bit scared. _Don't give me that look!_ "It's your mom-"

"What?" I grabbed the phone quickly and I almost shouted. "Why are you-" 'I thought you might forget to call me, so I gave my number to Ayase-san. Everything alright?' I gave Eli another angry look, she just flushed and looked away, I could read the 'I'm sorry' in her eyes. "Yeah... whatever." 'Call me if anything happens, bye dear! Have fun.' "Bye..." I ended the call, giving Eli her phone back. "Why-"

"Your mom told me to call her when we got here, in case you forgot and... I didn't see you with your phone so I thought we should get it over with... s-sorry." The blonde said that quickly, so she had to take a deep breath when she finished the sentence. I look into her blue eyes, and I felt a bit bad...

"Y-you talk like I am a monster..." I flushed a bit and Eli just chuckled.

"No... I just didn't wanted you to be angry at me." Eli giggled nervously.

"Like I could be angry at you!-"

"That sounded very angry to me... Maybe you are indeed a little monster." Eli teased with a smirk and I just snorted. "Is that your piano?" She randomly asked as I noticed she was looking at the one we had here.

"Y-yeah... just one of them. I do love this one." _It's my second favorite..._

"I would love to hear you play..." I felt my cheeks go red.

"L-Let's get to work, we have so much to do..." _It's not like she haven't heard me playing before... why make it such a big deal, Maki?_ I turned around, ready to look out for the others.

Shortly after we changed our clothes and all, we had a small meeting at the living room...

"Alright, then. Maki, Umi and Kotori need to start working on the music, lyrics and costume respectively. The rest of us, let's go practice outside!" Eli words were followed by some shouts of excitement. _Working on the music..._ I had to gulp. I was nervous and It wasn't a good sight to begin with. Before they left, I grabbed Eli by her arm.

"Be careful with the-"

"Don't worry Maki, we will be alright!" She gives me a thumbs up and the widest smile she can manage. I smile back... _she can be so enthusiastic sometimes._ "And good luck, don't put so much pressure on yourself, alright?" She whispered that and I nodded shyly. I look at the piano, it was not that far away from us... "I'll leave you to it, then." I see her walking away... I sighed when she couldn't be seen.

"Okay... you two can follow me now." I take Umi and Kotori upstairs, we walk in awkward silence. "Well, I guess we need to start working on that song, right? Umi, you can use that room over there. There's lots of poetry, rhythm dictionaries and such." The blue haired girl nods, looking at the door I just pointed out. "Kotori, this one even has a sewing machine." I opened the door for her. The three of us just stood there nervously. "E-everything alright, then?" I couldn't even fake confidence.

"Yeah..." Umi did not sounded too convincing, and Kotori just nodded.

"I'll be at the piano..." I voiced simply before I left... I felt like someone dropped a bucket of cold water over me. I just kept walking... before I realized, I was in front of my piano. I shook my head, _you can't be this lame, Maki! You have been composing for a long time now, the group needs you!_ I sat down... I started playing a few songs, just to warm up. _Fine... now, what do we need to win this thing? Because we definitely NEED to win this... I can't slow down now, not when this will be our last chance together…_

* * *

...

* * *

I wasn't sure if time had passed or not, a minute? An hour? I couldn't tell. I just was sure of one thing: I couldn't even play our current songs alright. _Snap out of it, Maki! We can't get through this like this!_ I snorted with frustration before I placed my forehead into the keys, letting the awful noise sound loud... _It's no use... I..._ I sighed, looking up to the roof. I wonder how the other girls are doing.

 **Rin's POV:**

"SOMEONE HELPS UUUUS!" Nico-chan and I were half-falling, half-running down to a very huge and long hill...

"NYAAA!" I screamed in true horror. _This is it… the end… Kayo-chin… I hope you don't forget me…_

 **Maki's POV:**

 _Ok... this is definitely not working._ I say to myself after a couple tries on the piano. _I-I wonder how are Umi and Kotori doing..._ I stood up. _If I see them doing some progress, I'm sure that will motivate me!_ I almost ran upstairs, Kotori's door was closed so I decided to check on Umi first.

"Umi... how are you doing?" I peek inside, making the other girl flinch.

"M-Maki... I'm doing fine. Hehe." She laughs nervously, her answer sounds painfully fake. _Okay... she has written a couple words, at least._ I guess I'm not the only one having some troubles.

"Uhm... should we go check on Kotori?" I ask nervously, _I am sure she is having a better time than us..._

"Y-yeah!" Umi almost jumped outside, it's like she wanted to leave as soon as possible. Umi opens the door slowly... "K-Kotori?" There was no sight of her... I opened my eyes wide and I'm sure the other girl did the same as we read a 'HELP ME' in the wall, there's a rope made of clothes coming out of the window. Umi was panicking already.

"S-She ran away!" _Genious! I thought as_ Umi ran to the window and sighs with relief. "She is right there..." Kotori was sitting next to a tree, just outside the cabin. "We... we could scape too." I look at Umi and we both laugh nervously... It doesn't takes long for us to go down the rope... We walk towards Kotori, she was hugging her knees. "Kotori... are you alright?" Umi asks softly as the girl hides her face between her knees.

"N-Not at all... I don't seem to be able to... w-wait..." She takes her face out of hiding. "You two are having troubles too?" Both of us look away embarrassed, until we gave up, sitting next to her. The three of us stay there, hugging our knees.

"I-I can't think of a single word..." Umi voiced worriedly.

"W-Well... I am not doing that good either..." I admit, looking away as Kotori sobs a little.

"If you two can't think of anything..." She cries again. "We are doomed!" _We... are... so... doomed._

"B-But we could... work a bit more or..." _It's not use, Umi..._ "We could really run away... escape together... I have enough food and tools to survive in the wild for two weeks at least! We can say we got lost!" _She sounds insane but..._ I nod in agreement. _Maybe that backpack of Umi will be helpful, after all._

"B-But we would... disappoint them..." Kotori's voice tone says it all. _I don't want that to happen..._

"I think we should listen to Umi's plan..." _Escape. At this point, that's our only salvation._

 _..._

 **Eli's POV:**

"Sheesh... I was worried, you two." After we managed to catch up to Rin and Nico and rescue them, we took them to the cabin. I wanted to stop Nozomi and Honoka from lighting up Maki's chimney but the two girls were freezing... I sigh. _What a mess..._ I look to the piano, there's no Maki there... _Where is she? I hope she is alright..._ I had a bad feeling in my guts.

"Honoka, you should be worried about us!" Nico says after she sneezes. The second year laughs in response.

"S-sorry... it was so funny!" The rest of them giggle a bit too.

"We should be silent, the other girls are working..." Nozomi voices.

"Uhm... where's Maki-chan?" Honoka realizes too as Hanayo enters with some tea. "I'll go give some to the girls upstairs!" Honoka runs away quickly.

"Carefully, Honoka!" I exclaim as Honoka rushes upstairs. _She is definitely going to spill it all over the floor... Hmm... I really wonder where is-_

"Oh... AHHH!" I hear Honoka yelling from upstairs and I ran to the second floor in response.

"H-Honoka, what's wrong?" I try to catch my breath, she seems horrified, I follow her glance to… _I-Is there a rope hanging out?!_ Honoka and I rush towards the window... we sigh in relief when we see the three girls sitting there, near some trees. "T-They seem fine..."

"I almost had a heart attack!" Honoka took a deep breath... _Me too, Honoka. Me too._

 _..._

 **Maki's POV:**

Update: they found us. We weren't fast enough to hide in the mountains... Umi, Kotori and I are sitting on a couch inside the cabin, the other girls are around us, and they seem pretty worried... The three of us look down, avoiding their eyes...

"Y-You are in a slump?" Most of them ask in shock. _Sheesh..._

"M-Maybe we were pressing you too much?" Eli voices and I can tell she is worried... _Great! Now all of them are going to be distressed too!_

"I-It's just not been easy..." Umi admits.

"We want to do a good job, if we don't... we won't make it through the preliminaries..." Kotori voices and sighs... I felt like the rest of them wanted me to say something too.

"I-I wasn't doing _that_ bad! I was making some progress... A-Almost." I avoid all of them, pretending to be interested in some lamp not far away from me.

"But your notebook is empty, nya-"

"W-Who said you could look?" I scold Rin, taking the booklet off her hands. Kotori sobs a little.

"W-We shouldn't leave everything to them this time..." I can hear Hanayo saying. They proceed to talk about a way to solve this, while Umi, Kotori and I just sat there, helplessly... _We know we are screwed._

"Huh?" I exclaim when I notice Eli crouching in front of me. She looks directly into my eyes and smiles. _How can you smile now? Like, how can your face manage to light up something this awful?_

"Everything will be fine." I blink twice, those blue eyes can take every worry off me... almost. Maybe if we weren't in such a bad situation. "Okay?" She glances towards Umi and Kotori this time. She gives this vibe... like she can fix anything. _And I'm sure she can, but..._ "I have an idea!" She voices with enthusiasm as she stands up, facing the others. I can't help but smile... _This girl is something else..._ She tells us to wait outside for her to come back. Eli gets back to us shortly after... _what does she have on her hands?_ Whatever she is planning... I'm not so sure if it'll work. If it wasn't Eli, I would be gone already.

"We still have time to escape..." I whisper to Umi, who is next to me. She seems up for it.

"I'll go get the tools... You distract them-"

"We will form three groups. Everyone will grab a colored stick..." Eli proceeded to walk around to make everyone take one. "No running away this time." The blonde voices to Umi and me. _Nothing escapes her..._ I got yellow, while Umi got blue. "Here is the deal, the ones who got the same color as Kotori will help her with costume design, that's Hanayo and Honoka." The three girls smile happily. "Then we have Nozomi and Rin with Umi, working with the lyrics." _So that means..._ "Nico and I will help Maki with the music." Eli finishes up with a smile. I had to smile too, she tries so hard.

"This is perfect! Now, let's get to it!" Honoka says with her usual excitement.

"Yeah!" All the girls yell happily, except Nico and me. I flinch.

"Y-Yeah!" I mutter, maybe a bit late… not because I think it will work, but because I don't want Eli's effort to go unnoticed. The blonde smiles at me as Nico just snorts in disagreement.

* * *

…

* * *

The three groups separated, we are camping in different places. Nico, Eli and I are building our tent next to the cabin... not without the raven haired girl and I fighting. Eventually, we finish it up... I guess it was a good distraction. We just sit down inside it... _I hope this thing doesn't fall._ There was an awkward silence and I could bet my life on who was going to break it.

"O-Okay... Maki, what can we do to help?" _Eli, I can't... work with that smile._ "Come on, you can do it!" I blush... she didn't seemed quite sure about what to do to help.

"I still don't get why we got separated, it's not a good idea-"

"Come on, Nico...-"

"I can't see how we can help!" Nico gives me an unamused look.

"I-I have an idea..." Eli was trying to ease the tension, like she always does. "Just try to brainstorm some stuff, Maki. Write whatever you want." I sigh loudly.

"Fine... I'll try." _Just because I can't refuse to your ideas, Eli._

"You really think that's going to work?" Nico asks the blonde.

"Who knows? You need to be more positive, Nico." Eli whispers, like she is trying not to distract me.

"I'm being realistic here. You, for once, are not." Nico points out and I sigh, letting them argue. I just try to brainstorm... anything... anything is better than nothing, I guess. After a while, I seem to be making some progress, finally... _Maybe this whole camping thing is working._ I look up, Eli and Nico are playing... something? With the sticks. I giggle silently. _Or maybe it's the company..._ not that I will ever admit that.

"I hope the other girls are doing fine..." Eli voices suddenly, not whispering this time.

"You just distracted Maki, Eli!" Eli flinches and I chuckle. _They were definitely trying not to disturb me._

"It's fine..." I doodle around... _I hope something good comes out of this._

"I still don't get why are we here when we could be at the mansion?" _It's not a mansion, thought._ I look at Eli, she seems pensive. "Besides, I am not sure this is helping..." Nico smirks at me. _I-I got distracted._

"I-I'll go back to the piano when I finish here..." This time I keep on writing.

"Then... should we cook something? We should support Maki in any way we can." Eli gives me one of those tender smiles of her that makes my heart skip a beat. _Y-You can't just say those things, Eli!_ I look away from her, my eyes on the notebook once again as I feel my cheeks grew hotter.

"Fine! I'll go get something to cook..." Nico stands up and leaves.

"I'll light up a small fire outside-"

"We are cooking outside!?" Nico shouts a bit, Eli just nods. "You are crazy!" I giggle a bit, kind of amused because Nico didn't actually refuse to do so.

"You good?" Eli asks me with another smile, just before she leaves the tent.

"Y-Yeah..." I voice, trying to keep on writing. Then, she leaves the tent.

After a while… I can finally tell I made some progress. I sigh with relief, _I guess I was able to beat this messy head of mine,_ I thought as I looked the pages I wrote. I stretch my arms and I look outside the tent… _Wow, is almost dark..._ I decide to go out, Eli and Nico are sitting around the fireplace, there seems to be some food getting cook.

"You finally leave that tent!" Nico exclaims when she notices me. Eli turns around to look at me.

"Come sit here with us." There was a sit between the two girls, so I obey. "So... Uhm..." I notice Eli is hesitating to ask.

"It's doing well, I guess... better than before, that is for sure." She smiles in response.

"That's great!" Eli exclaims happily.

"Yeah, yeah, amazing but... when is this going to be ready? I'm starving!" Nico voices with bitterness... _I am actually hungry too..._

"It won't take long, Nico." Eli reassures her... Then I notice the blonde looking up to the sky. "Hmm... it'll be completely dark when the fire extinguish, right?" _Hmm... Why does she sounds so... worried?_

"What about it?" I ask Eli with some confusion.

"Are... you afraid of the dark?" Nico laughs out loud, Eli just blushes. _Oh... really, Eli?_ I chuckle silently.

"N-Not at all!" Eli ' _Bad-liar' Ayase._ She quickly stands up. "G-give me a minute..." And just like that, she enters the tent.

"Huh?" Nico exclaims... Eli just light up a little lantern inside the tent. _I giggle... She is such a baby._ "Who would have guessed it? Eli, afraid of the dark? This day is full of surprises." Nico laughs out loud again while I just smile... _It's so adorable._

"But don't joke to her about it..." _I don't want her to run away scared into the woods or something._

"But how is she still afraid of it, at her age! Awh!-" Nico screams because some fire ashes got to her. I just laugh.

"Sheesh, I can't believe I'm going crazy composing songs for third years like you two..." I sigh with a smile. _Do they deserve it? Absolutely. Am I going to tell them that? Hell no._

"Huh? What did you just said?" I give Nico a confused look. "You said you are doing it for the third years?" She crosses her arms with evident disapproval.

"W-What about it?" I-It's not a lie..." She sighs with frustration.

"No wonder you were not making any progress before! 'I'll compose a good song for the third years, it's their last year, we should win for them' Bah!-"

"T-That's definitely not true!" I glance away from Nico.

"Songs should be for _everyone_... so everyone could enjoy them." She voices with sudden seriousness.

"N-Now you are telling me what to do?" But I guess she is right...

"Of course, I _am_ the president after all! Job's done, time to eat... Here! It's a roasted sweet potato." She lends it to me...

"Huh?" I just grab it... "I-It's hot!" I blow it a bit as she laughs.

"And what did you expect? Ice cream?" I break the potato in two pieces.

"Here." I give it to Nico. She seems surprised. "W-What? I thought you were hungry!" I voice harshly as I blush.

"T-Thank you..." We proceed to eat... _Wow... I was staving!_

 _..._

 **Eli's POV:**

I sigh... _I'm so glad I got this lamp... and the two other lanters, just in case. There could be a blackout out of nowhere._ I glance to the two girls near the fire. _T-They are... not fighting?_ I almost shed a tear... _Progress!_ I smile as I get out of the tent.

"What's going on here?" I sit once again. _They were bonding... That makes me so hap-_

"Ha! You ate it! Now you have to give me the leading role for the next song!" _W-What?_

"Sheesh! That's not even my job... and you don't deserve any leading role!" _I... I guess good things don't last, right?_

"Ah!? Then give me my potato back!-"

"I already ate it!" I sigh, _I guess is no use..._ "Eli." _Huh?_ I look up. "Want some?" I see Maki's little smile as she lends me some potato. I nod in response, kind of getting lost in those violet eyes.

"Thank you, Maki." And just like that, the three of us continue eating. We just sat there, eating and chatting for a bit. Then, Maki continued working on the song... I was starting to feel eager to know how was going to turn out. I kept looking at the stars... they were so bring tonight.

"Ah..." I could hear Nico yawning. "Well, it's time for my beauty sleep. See ya tomorrow!" She enters the tent.

"D-Don't turn the lamp off, Nico!" Nico smirks and nods before she closes the tent, Maki just giggles. "W-What?" I blush...

 **Maki's POV:**

"Nothing, nothing." I can't help but smile at her. "You two were helpful after all..." I voice, looking at my booklet. "B-But don't say that to anyone."

"Deal." She smiles wide. "I am glad we were able to... I was getting worried." She takes her attention to the sky once again. _She is pensive, even more than usual. There's something definitely on her mind._ "Not that we were _that_ useful... we just kept doing silly things-"

"You two kept me company. That worked in the end." I gave her a smile, she flushed a bit. She looks up once again... _Eli looks beautiful with the light of the fire... makes her shine._

"I hope the others are doing fine, though..."

"I am sure they are." I was sure of it. We exchanged some smiles before she looks up to the sky once again... I just kept looking at her, listening to the sounds of the fire... it's so relaxing and calming... I smile at certain someone in particular. I did not wanted to take my eyes away from her for some reason. "I-I should keep on writing..." I voice lowly, trying to focus on the task once again.

"Maki, look up." _Huh?_ I look at Eli before I follow her instructions. _So many stars..._ "They are shining bright tonight."

"Yeah..." I agree, peaking at Eli once again. Not sure about which one of these stars I prefer to look at.

"They are, technically, always the same but... depending on the situation, they look different." Her deep words took me by surprise but... I did understand what she meant.

"I guess it depends in what you are trying to find in them... today they seem brighter because, well... we did needed some brightness." Eli stretched her legs, resting her head under her palms.

"Yes, I guess you are right." I smiled at her. I like the way her mind works... In that moment, I realized how truly refreshed I felt. I also noticed how overwhelmed I felt this last couple of weeks. _All I needed was some nature, fresh air, food, good friends... and..._ I kept my eyes on certain blonde.

"What?" She asks when she notices my eyes on her.

"N-Nothing, just... aren't you tired?" She seems to smile at me. "You should go to sleep-"

"You don't want me here?" She jokes, or at least I hope it is a joke.

"I _do_ want you here..." I voiced that maybe way too sincerely. "B-But if you are tired-" She laughs.

"You are the one who seems tired... You slept all the time in the train." Eli smiles at me.

"I... I did not, did I?" _I guess I did in the end._

"Just ask my shoulder." The blonde giggles and I open my eyes wide because of what she is implying. _I was sitting next to Eli in the train..._ "D-Don't worry about it!" She realized I was too embarrassed to even speak.

"I-I don't believe you... Did I really?" I got all flustered. _This is all Umi's fault._

"Don't be silly Maki, its fine." She shakes her hand, not wanting it to be a big deal. "Just keep at it until you are tired, I'll keep you company." _How does she say these embarrassing things so easily?_

"J-Just don't distract me..." Eli smiled and I tried to keep my focus, once again. _Maybe I'm just losing my attention span? It can happen at my age. I think._ I shook my head... the music we need, for everyone... I manage to get a solid idea of what I want to achieve with the song this time.

"I'm sorry, Maki." The words caught me off guard, Eli was looking down, playing with some grass.

"Sorry for what?-"

"I knew you weren't _that..._ inspired-" Sheesh, y _ou can call it a slump, Eli._ "to compose lately and I still left you there to do it on your-"

"Enough." She stares at me, I guess because of how bluntly I interrupted her. "If someone was able to help me-o-or, us… it was you, Eli." I blushed so I had to look away. _She feels responsible for everything, always._ "Actually, _I_ should be the one thanking you. For caring about me… everyone. So don't feel guilty for something you already fixed." I muttered, my face was red but I had to look at the blonde one last time. I wasn't sure what was on her mind, she seemed frozen. "I also care about you, so we are even, now cheer up and never apologize for something that ridiculous." I randomly pat her head like she was a little dog, not knowing what got into me. Then I just glanced towards my notebook and pretended to write something, when my mind was just a turmoil _'I also care about you'_. _What the actual_ -

"M-Maki-"

"D-Don't distract me." I lost count of how many times I've said that today but I had to cut her off, even though I felt bad for doing so. She somehow always makes my shields go down… _What the hell was that, Maki? Since when you give such embarrassing speeches!? I must be sleep deprived… it's messing up with my mind!_ _Not that I regret anything I just said, though…_ Eli seemed to understand, so she just stood there silently. Just giving me company, I guess.

After a long while, well, long enough for me to stop being flustered, I heard a yawn... coming from Eli, of course, even though she tried to hide it. "You are sleepy..." I point out, grinning at her. "You should go to bed or... to the tent, I guess." I giggle a bit, I don't know what time it is. But I'm sure it has to be late.

"I don't want to leave you here alone... at night, in the dark." I had to chuckle... "And the fire has almost extinguished..." _I am not sure if she is worried about me, her or both._

"I'm fine, I'm feeling really inspired right now. I feel like something amazing might come out of this." I give her my best smile, but she doesn't seem convinced. "Trust me." My mind trails off to the 'I also care about you'. She sighs in defeat.

"Alright... Just let me give you one of my lanterns." She turns around to look for her bag, it wasn't that far away. I furrow my eyebrow.

"Just how many you have?" I notice her face getting red, making me smirk.

"Only... two." I giggle as she lights her lantern up, to test if it works before giving it to me. "Here..."

"Thank you." I kept looking at her, but she seemed unsure about leaving me here. "I'll be fine, have some rest, please!"

"Fine... Good luck, then." She stands up and pets my head kindly. "I can't be the only one who gets a pat on the head tonight." I blush at the memory, _so this is why I get so embarrassing with her… it's because she can always be even more embarrassing than me!_ "Wake me up if something happens..." She winks at me and I look away.

"Yeah, yeah…" I had to grin at her worry.

"Sweet dreams." We exchange some smiles before she enters the tent... I glance down, still smiling. _I don't think i'm sleeping anytime soon, though._

 _..._

I peek into the tent after a couple minutes… Of course both are sleeping soundly. I smile at them, the fire has extinguished… I lower the light of the lamp a bit, but I let it on, just in case… Then I walk towards the cabin with enough confidence to face the piano this time. As soon as I sit there, I feel like myself once again... so I start playing. It doesn't take long for Umi and Kotori to join me.

...

 **Eli's POV:**

I can feel the light of the day waking me up… I open my eyes. With Nico still sleeping next to me. I giggle, she actually had half of her weight _on_ me. So I slept all night… I watch the lamp lighting up a bit and I smile. I try not to wake the other girl up as I walk out of the tent… No sign of Maki, _I just hope she is resting a bit, at least._ I proceed to wake Nico up… The rest of the girls get next to our tent as soon as Nico and I go out.

"Good morning." I say to them with a smile.

"Kotori-chan and Maki-chan are not here…" Hanayo voices, still half sleep.

"Neither is Umi, nya…" Rin exclaims this time.

"I can guess where they are…" Nozomi says looking at the cabin. All of us do the same before we start to walk in that direction… It was way too silent, so they must be sleeping... somewhere. And, of course, Maki is sleeping on the piano. I smile at her messy hair, resisting the urge to caress her hair. Kotori and Umi are at the sofa, the three of them are sleeping soundly.

"Sheesh, look at them." Nico says and Nozomi giggles. _Even Nico is touched by the scene._

"We should let them sleep." Says Nozomi. I place my hand on Maki's head for a second, not knowing exactly why. Then I grab her music papers.

"Yeah, but we will have to practice as soon as they wake up." I voice softly to avoid waking any of the girls up. I look at Maki's writing and then I look at her sleeping. "I'll be strict." Hanayo covers Maki with a blanket and Rin does the same to Umi and Kotori. Honoka grabs Kotori's sketchbook and Umi's paper. We look at them and we smile. "What if we start the day with some dancing?"

"Yay!" Honoka and Rin say at the same time… Then we hear the sound of their stomach.

"Maybe we should eat breakfast first." Hanayo says and we giggle.

 **Maki's POV:**

Umi woke me and Kotori up, then we saw the other girls practicing and we rushed there… They saved us some breakfast so we ate some, and then we spend the day practicing. We did a great job. At night, we all took a bath and had dinner together. After all the girls were sleeping, I decided to stand up and work in my mission… cleaning the chimney. I grab some tools and chalk. I sit down silently, not wanting to wake anyone up. _Let's get to work!_ While I am at it…

"Boo!" I almost jump, looking over my shoulder. It's just Eli, I sigh with frustration. She giggles. "Sorry, I couldn't help it."

"Sheesh, are you crazy? You almost give me a heart attack…" I snort angrily, trying to hide my smile as she sat next to me.

"And I'm the one scared of dark…" She points out with a laugh. _Ah!_ "Huh?" Eli seems to notice what she just said and blushes a lot, now I giggle. I could have laughed out loud but I had to keep it quiet. "I-I…"

"Like I didn't know already." I chuckle again, remembering the older girl worries of last night.

"Y-you noticed?" I look at Eli and she looks really embarrassed.

"Of course I did." It was adorable, she seemed like a little child now. Way too flustered about her own silly fear. "Now, I need to clean this thing…" I wanted to keep teasing her, but I didn't wanted to make such a big deal out of it… _at least not now. One day I will._

"I-I'm glad you didn't mock me about it, then… I'll help you out!" She grabs a brush, she doesn't seem quite sure about what to do with it. I giggle a bit as I kept brushing away the stains, the blonde just follows my example.

"Sorry I had to light the fire up-"

"What did I told you about saying sorry for silly things?" I gave her a smile she reciprocated. "Don't worry, I'll just scare you in revenge." I looked sideways, she was terrified. I just laugh it off. "Besides, I like to clean this thing… it reminds me of the winter holidays." She smiles at nothing in particular.

"I can't wait for the snow to come." I look at her for a second. We kept cleaning until we were done… we had to laugh at our own messy Santa chalk drawing.

"Yours has a nose way too big." I point out with a chuckle.

"At least its ears have some proportion." We laughed together this time. Then we sat in silence… I didn't knew when we stopped watching our art and we switched our focus to each other's eyes. _They are so blue… I could get lost in them._

Eli moved a bit, coming a bit closer to me. That's when I realized this… might look embarrassing, right? "W-what?" I asked her before I looked around, making sure no one saw us.

"N-Nothing…" Eli muttered, looking away and I noticed how red she was. "I-I guess we should go to sleep, hmm?"

"Not before we wash our hands." She giggles a bit before she nods, then we walk to the bathroom.

…

 **Eli's POV:**

"Harasho… It's so calming and beautiful, isn't?" I asked as I kept staring at the sky… the moon was shining bright today.

"Definitely…" Maki's voice was so soft… it made me turn around to look at her, I quickly blushed as our eyes lock. _W-was she looking at me all this time?_ I notice I can hear Maki's breath… _She is so close…_ My glance moves instinctively, so now I can't keep my eyes away from her lips. _When did we get so close?_ Maki bites her lip and I feel my body melting.

"Eli…" Maki's voice was almost begging me… so I couldn't resist anymore. I pressed our lips together with some urgency, but softly. Somehow, we just deepened the kiss… I placed my hands on her hips and turned her around, she was now against the railing as I kept kissing her. Hard. Maki moaned a bit and that's when I knew I lost it.

I sat up straight impulsively, breathing heavily. _W-what?_ I look around just to notice… I notice… _It was a dream?!_ I cover my face with my hands, the darkness just made me remember the dream even more vividly, I could feel my face burning and my stomach going wild. _How could I dream something like that!? I'm so screwed! So, so screwed!_ I was at loss of words. _H-How…_ I put my knees up, just to hug them with my arms so I could hide my face better as I trying to regain some composure.

"Hmm? Eli?" I almost jumped in surprise, looking to my left just to see a sleepy Maki next to me, she was scratching one of her eyes, with one elbow resting on her pillow. I felt my blush grew as intense as her red hair. "Are you okay?" She seemed more sleep than awake, I couldn't say a thing even if my life depended on it. I only woke up from the shook when Maki's eyes opened, I looked away quickly.

"It was just a dream." I was still hugging my knees, but I couldn't look at the redhead. Not now.

"A nightmare?" She asked with a husky voice that didn't help at all.

"I-I guess…" _Not really. Not at all._ "Did I woke you up?" I had to look at her, _did I said something in my sleep?_ I gulped nervously as Maki proceeded to hide her face in her pillow once again. I heart was beating fast, just like in my dream.

"No…" Maki yawned and I smiled wide. _She is so unbelievable cute._ She was way too sleepy, it's been a while since the redhead had a goodnight sleep.

"Shh… go back to sleep." I caressed her head like she was a baby. _Well, she kind of is…_

"Don't worry, I left a light there and there are no bears around here…" _Bears?_ And just like that, she went back to sleep almost immediately… I chuckled as I hugged my knees, resting my chin on them, just staring at the peaceful breath of the red head. _I know you did…_ I saw Maki turning a light close to my bed just before we went to sleep. I took a deep breath before I rested my head on the pillow… I was looking at the ceiling as I remembered the dream and my cheeks flush. _T-This is so… bad. It's really bad._ I turn around to the other side, seeing the back of Nozomi's head as she slept. _You can't just dream these things! You just can't!_ I scolded myself as I turned to the ceiling again, I covered my face with the sheet in an attempt to cover my thoughts. _Stop thinking about it… Stop… No. Don't!_ It was no use. _How am I supposed to sleep after this?_ And Maki… _She only makes this harder! Being so unbelievably-_ That's when I hear… someone was snoring suddenly, it wasn't close but not that far away, and it was definitely coming from Honoka. I sighed, _jackpot…_

* * *

 **Winter is co- ok, it will actually take a bit but we are getting there. I wish I didn't loved slowburns so much... :)** _  
_


	15. Chapter 15 - Open up

**Open Up.**

* * *

 **Maki´s POV:**

I'll never know how we managed to get a song done in less than three days _…_ but we did it, somehow. And now we were back on the train, the trip was over, so now the contest felt closer than ever. Things are starting to get real. I sighed as I looked up to the train roof. _I can't image the outcome if we didn't come here, maybe my mom was right._

"What's on your mind?" I flinched at Eli's voice, _I thought she was sleeping…_ The blonde was looking at me, I recognized that look: Curious Eli. _Well, my mom wasn´t the only one who was right, actually._

"I-I thought you were sleeping?" I muttered. As soon as we got to the train, Eli leaned back in her seat, so I didn't wanted to bother her. Eli shuddered her shoulders in response, the rest of the girls were probably sleeping. At least Nozomi and Nico were, snoozing right there in front of us.

"I tried, but…" _Was she a bit flustered?_ "I couldn't think straight." _Straight?_ She seemed way too pensive lately _. I figured it was just the Love Live getting to her, but…_ I notice her eye bags.

"Well, you do look awful." Eli locked her eyes with mines, making me flinch. She giggled. "I-I mean-"

"Thank you, that's flattering-"

"No, you do look amazing… w-what I mean! Is that you did not had a good night sleep these couple days, right?" I flushed, _my brain and its betrayals…_ the blonde looked away from me. "You had another nightmare last night?" I inquired, making the other girl flinch. _She did had one the night before,_ I could barely remember _… and I was too tired yesterday to know if it happened again._ She kept looking away and seemed troubled.

"This is not about nightmares-"

"It's the bears, isn't?" I smirked, I just wanted to make her smile. "First the dark, now bears…" She gave me a glare. "Your nightmares must be hardcore."

"Who said anything about bears?" Eli furrowed her eyebrow, but she seemed entertained by my silliness.

"I get it, they are fluffy and cute…" I ignored her question as she smiled a little. "And _maybe_ a bit dangerous and murderous." She chuckled. _Mission accomplished._ "But you don't need to be scared of them-"

"Just like you." She said suddenly, her cheeks were red and I couldn't guess why.

"What?" I asked, not quite getting what she meant. She looked away from me, turning her gaze towards the roof, but I could see her red cheeks.

"You are like a little bear. Cute _and_ dangerous, too." _W-What?_ I was the one getting blushed now, _what does that even mean? Where does that come from?_ She gave me a quick look, like she was testing how her teasing affected me. I crossed my arms with a snort, looking away. "And fluffy-"

"S-Shut up." I voiced harshly. "Stop teasing me." I was still not looking at her, but I could hear her giggle.

"Sorry, sorry…" I looked at her sideways, she took a deep breath before she started playing with her fingers nervously. _Huh?_ She gave a look at Nico and Nozomi in front of us, who were sleeping like their lives depended on it. It didn't take much for her to look down to her fingers again. "M-Maki?" She muttered, barely audible.

I turned my gaze towards her this time, locking our eyes together as I tried to understand what was on her mind. It was like she wanted to ask something serious. She seemed to flinch a bit… _what's wrong with you today?_ "What?" I encouraged since she didn't open her mouth. I noticed her cheeks were way too red, more than I ever have seen them before…

"N-Nothing." She crossed her arms and turned the other way like she was about to sleep.

"Are you o-"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I'll try to sleep." I nodded, it was just a long weekend and we still have a lot of things to do. _She does seem tired…_ so I decided to let her rest, leaving her alone. She was looking away from me as she rested her head on her shoulder, I hesitated but in the end I took my book out and started reading… we still had one more hour here, after all. I couldn't stop myself from glaring at Eli from time to time… I smiled wide when I saw she was finally sleeping soundly. I spaced out a bit… and noticed how Nico was resting with almost all her little weight on Nozomi, while the eldest reclined her head on the other. _Pft! How lame, it looks so embarrassing-_ A movement next to me stopped my thoughts. I contained a giggle, looking at the blonde shifting her position on the seat to get more comfortable. I sighed with a smile one last time before I continued my reading. _At least she is getting some deserved rest._ I sighed with relief, I was so much calmer now that we _did_ have a whole new song to perform. I continued to read the book.

…

My eyebrow furrowed as I kept reading, w _hy would anyone run away like this just because-_ I flinched when I felt a sudden weight on my shoulder. I glared at the head resting next to me… _on_ me _._ She was close enough for me to appreciate the full color or her golden strands, _and her warmness._ The least I wanted was to wake her up, so I stood there without moving an inch. _I guess my reading is over for now,_ but I wasn't even a bit bothered by it so I closed the book _,_ the plot was the last thing on my mind now. I sighed as Eli's breath relaxed me, it gave me so much calmness… _enough for me to…_ I hesitated before I rested just a tiny bit of my head on hers.

"Hmm…" Eli mumbled in her sleep as she cuddled closer to me, she even grabbed my right arm, making me blush intensively. I still smiled, keeping my head slightly on hers, _this feels nice_ … I thought shamefully… and that's when I saw certain smirk in front of me. I sat up straight, but I thankfully did not move enough to wake Eli up, she was still clinging to my arm though. _Ugh, Nozomi…_ The older girl wiggled her eyebrows at me, giving me the biggest smirk I've seen. Nico was still sleeping on her own shoulder, so I guess it was a weird, embarrassing scene. At least for me, because she looked like she just won the lottery twice.

"Having fun-"

"Shh!" I had to genuinely shush her. For Eli's and my own sake, but Nozomi smirk wasn't fading away anytime soon… I knew that, so I decided just to ignore it for the time being. _W'What did just got into me?! I must be tired,_ I thought as I scratched my eyes with my only free hand. _At least there's not that much time left,_ I turned my attention to my other arm… being hugged by a sleepy Eli. I contained a chuckle, _sheesh._

I decided to pass the few time left looking through the window, distracted by how things were passing by so fast, _literally and figuratively._

"Hmm?" Eli muttered once again as her weight left my shoulders and her grasp left my arm. For a few seconds, I felt empty and cold, I got used to her touch by now. I turned my head to Eli, who was scratching her own eye. I couldn't stop a smile, _she looks like a kid!_

"Good morning…" I voiced jokingly towards the blonde, _or maybe a puppy_. _Or a baby bear, fluffy… like she said._ Eli opened her eyes wide like she just realized something terrible happened, it made me worry. "A-Are you alri-"

"D-Did I slept on you…? I-I'm so sorry Maki." She seemed truly embarrassed and… genuinely sorry, even a bit terrified. _But… why?_ "I really am, it will not happen again! I promise!"

"I-It's no big deal…" I got flustered not only because that´s what I did best but because her reaccion caught me off guard. _But it is no big deal… It's not like… I did not feel uncomfortable at all, so why did she?_ "B-Besides, according to you, I slept a tiny bit on your shoulders last time… so we are even." It did put me off that Eli seemed even more embarrassed than me, it wasn't something that happened often.

"Ah… you two seem…" I flinched. _Right, Nozomi is still here._ "Closer than-"

"You are annoying." I pointed out, giving the spiritual girl an unamused look "I almost don't care about your teasing anymore, you do it way too often, and it's tiresome." I looked sideways just to see that Eli seemed red and nervous once again, playing with her own fingers. _Is she feeling alright?_

"You said it yourself. Almost." Nozomi gave me an enigmatic smile, then she gave Eli a quick look, and I swear I noticed some worry in her green eyes. I gazed towards the blonde too, _maybe she does have a fever?_ _Is it because we slept outside the cabin the other day?_ Now she had the tip of her fingers covering her lips, she seemed lost in her own thoughts. _Or maybe she is suffering some motion sickness?_

…

 **Eli's POV:**

 _What am I going to do?_ My heart was beating way too fast. _What. Am. I. Going. To. Do. Now?_ _I can't keep on denying it to myself, can I? This is worse than I thought. I need to get the dream off my head! Her, more specifically, of my head!_ That's when I realized two pairs of eyes on me, and those eyes had to be not less than my best friend's… _and Maki's._ I flinched, they looked worried. _Of course they do, I'm acting like a maniac!_

"Are you-" The train stopped suddendly and Maki's question with it.

"Ah, we are finally here!" I muttered quickly, thankful for the timing of our arrival, I grabbed my stuff and left them there looking at me, not giving them a chance to say anything else.

"N-Nozomi why didn't you woke me up!" A sleepy Nico yelled. _I need to think fast…_

 _/-/-/-/-/_

* * *

 _/-/-/-/-/_

As I walked down the school's hallway, I remembered how quickly I left the other girls when we got out of the train station. I knew they were probably thinking I was acting strangely. That was two days ago, even though it felt like weeks. I felt overwhelmed and I needed some time alone… _in fact, I still do_. If I wasn't thinking about _that_ dream, then I was thinking about the choreography we _definitely_ needed to get through the preliminaries. I gulped _, this weight on my shoulders_ … the last time I felt like this… _it ended the ballet career I couldn't even properly start._ I snorted with frustration as I stopped walking, only to give myself a facepalm. I have to get my mind together, _they all worked so hard to finish this song! I can't slow down now! And now it's my turn and I can't even think straight-_

I rubbed my temples, trying to figure how to fix the two things that have been messing with me so much: _how can we win this, what performance do we need to win?_ And: _how can I stop thinking about her…?_ I slapped both of my cheeks. In times like this, Nozomi would bother me until I snapped or until she slapped me, making me go back to my usual self. She already tried… and it was one of the few times that it did not help. But she did ended the last intervention with a pep talk: _'Everything will be alright, I assure you that. There's nothing to be scared of.'_ I did not know what she was talking about, and I wasn't going to ask. Because Nozomi could be _way_ too perceptive, it was a good trait... _only when it did not involve me._

 _How can I be so selfish? Everyone else did they part, and now I am the one struggling?_ No, that's forbidden for me. I _do not_ struggle when there are other people that need me-

"Are you sick?" I almost gasped because of the sound coming from just behind me. I knew where that voiced came from. "Because if you are, you shouldn't be going to practice today…" I turned around, not resisting it anymore. There she was… with a serious and worried expression. Looking directly at me. "You look so red-"

"That's just because I just slapped myself." I explained helplessly like that made sense, trying to joke about it but Maki just furrowed an eyebrow, she seemed even more worried now. "M-Maybe _I am_ sick…" That's also what I have been telling myself. _Yeah, 'sick'…_

"I knew it. Then you should go home. Get some rest…" Maki sighed loudly. "I'll tell the others, get a warm bath and some tea." She looked away with a blush. "D-Don't make me worry so much, it's embarrassing…" I had to smile. _There she was… half of the cause of my own 'sickness'_. "A-And don't avoid me just because you are feeling ill. N-not that I care, but I'm the daughter of two doctors, I can help!" _Screwed. That's how I am calling the big smile I have plastered on my face right now._ The translation of Maki's last words was a big 'I'm here for you', _and that just makes my heart beat even harder, Maki_. For her to say something like that… _I'm not trying to avoid you, but..._ I shook my head. _I also don't want to disappoint you or the others…_ _and that's what is going to happen if we can't pull off a great performance!_ "Wait…" Maki furrowed her eyebrow again. "This is something else." I flinched, _n-no, it's not…_ "Is it because of the choreography…? You shouldn't worry, we still have time!" I half smiled with relief as she seemed to relax. _You can read all through me, Maki…_ _or almost._

"I guess I'm the one in a slump know…" I tried to chuckle as the redhead gave me an intense look now.

"Y-You know you can talk to me about it, right?" She was slightly blushed. "Or anyone… it doesn't have to be me, just talk about it with anyone…" I gulped, _how can I do that, Maki? If you keep messing with my head?_ The redhead seemed to have a 'eureka' moment. "Then I need to help you out this time!" I had to giggle a bit, _you don't owe me anything, Maki._ "What can we do? Let's change the perspective, look at the full picture… Meditation? No, that wouldn't do-What if we, hmm… no, taking another trip now doesn't seem possible with the time we have…" I knew just by looking at her how hard she was trying to come up with something to help me out, muttering some phrases she probably read in some book. _She makes me smile…_ _and she is not even trying._ _'The full picture'._ Maki is right, this is bigger than me. This is about… _not giving up_ , just like we told Honoka once.

"I can do it on my own, Maki. You shouldn't worry about-"

"On your own?" She gave me an unamused look. " _Who_ was the one who built support groups last weekend so we could finish the song, huh? Because let's be honest… that's what they were." Maki grabbed both of my shoulders, locking her eyes with mines. "You are not alone here, you are the one who made me understand that." _I am not alone_ … I had to look at the redhead in front of me, her intense violet eyes telling me how sincere her last words were. _I guess…_ She is right. I do I have eight other people to lean on. _How can she be this mature sometimes?_ I had to look away from those eyes. _Alright, I get it! I am not alone… but Maki is so close to me right now, I can't think-_ "A-Are you here?" She seemed truly worried about my mental state now. I looked at those eyes that made me so nervous lately... but then I also felt the peace Maki's presence gave me. _'There's nothing to be scared of',_ _why Nozomi has to be right every single time?_

"What do you do when you feel overwhelmed by your own expectations and… feelings?" My question took both me and Maki by surprise, she blinked twice. "Like, when you feel this weight on your shoulders…" I trailed off looking away, not so sure about talking about this anymore… because it still bothered me. But I was sure Maki felt like these sometimes…

"I… I do what I love." I looked at Maki, she seemed flustered but also very serious. _Do what I love…?_ "I play the piano…" She said simply and I had to smile, _of course you do._ "But I play it for _me_ , not for others… just to have fun with it and not about doing it for someone else's sake, just doing what I love for _me_ … T-That might sound selfish, what I mean is that… I get lost in the music, basically. It's what helps me." I almost took a step back because her words hit too close. "Well, the only time that _that_ did not work, hmm… you were there for me, I trusted you and the others and in the end I felt the weight off my shoulders… that's how I got to finish our new song." Maki laughed nervously. _I do remember that feeling… getting lost in the music, in dancing._ I had to close my eyes as I took a deep breath. _This is not my ballet failure, this is something else. This is Muse's, this is friendship… this is fun. This is joining our forces and getting through everything. This is smiling and getting lost in the music, just like Maki said._

"Ah, Maki!" I exclaimed as I laughed out loud, even though I felt my eyes watering.

"E-Eli…" She placed her hands up, not sure of what to think of my reaction. "M-Maybe I should get you to the nurse-" I ran past her, I had a big smile that I couldn't get off me. _I'm not alone this time…_ "W-What are you doing?" _Not giving up!_ And the only way to do that is… _do what I love._

I giggled, looking over my shoulder just to find Maki following me. _Not fast enough._ "We have practice, are you going to lose to me once again?" I grinned at the picture of the redhead's face on my mind.

"Oh, it's _on!_ " I smirked, and so we ran… _It amazes me how we never get scolded because of this… well, at least not by anyone that's not Umi._

That's how we ended up catching our breath at the roof entrance, _again._ We were the only ones here, it was a bit early after all.

"I… won." Maki muttered, then gave me a proud smile. _I'm glad we did not fall on top of eaccch other this time._

"I guess you did…" _It was certainly a tie._ Normally I wouldn't give in so easily… but I couldn't resist _that_ face, not today.

"W-wait… you are conceding?" She opened her eyes wide. "Then you definitely are sick! Why did you run like that? Are you _really_ okay?" I had to chuckle at Maki, who seemed genuinely embarrassed by how worried she was about my 'illness'. "W-Whatever, like I care…" She crossed her arms, annoyed mostly because of my laugh.

"I am not sick, Maki…" At that moment, I decided two things… one: my friendship with Maki was what mattered and I couldn't let what I felt inside change that. _I will get over it eventually…_ _right?_ And two: _I'll forget about my failed past for now. Not that I've ever been able to forget about it for more than a month… but two weeks it's all I need._ The redhead looked at me intensively, probably trying to understand what was on my mind. _Oh, If only you knew, Maki…_

"Ahhh!" Honoka's voice made us turn away. "How… do you…" She was trying to catch her breath. "Run so fast?" Maki smirked. _Did Honoka really saw us racing and then tried to catch up to us? Again?_ The recollection of our last race made me chuckle.

"I only do that when I'm against Maki." I had to give the redhead a smirk. "By the way, you lost. Don't try to deny that." Maki's smile didn't fade away.

"You are back, huh?" I smiled wide as Maki giggled _. If I go down, it will not be for not trying this time._ She sighed. "You can be so stubborn sometimes…" She voiced to herself.

"How. Many. Times." _S-since when was Umi standing here?_ "How many times do I have to tell you… to not run inside the school?! It's ILLEGAL!" The three of us looked at the blue devil itself in front of us. _W-Well, it's not illegal. But Umi can be so_ …

"S-Scary!" Honoka yelled, only to run away from Umi, knowing she would follow her.

"Ah?! What did you just said, Honoka?!" Maki and I just smiled at them.

"Ah… they make me smile." Kotori got to the rooftop too. _Yeah, I have to agree…_ I looked at Maki, who know giggled because Umi caught Honoka. _Hmm… Ah!_

"You are the school president Honoka, how can you be so-"

"Umi!" I voiced suddenly as the second year flinched, _I don't have to do this alone._ "I have thought about some moves for the choreography, but I'm not so sure… I want to know what you think."

"Oh yes, I've been meaning to talk to you about that..." Umi voiced thoughtfully, still holding onto Honoka.

I looked at Maki, who seemed surprised. "Play our new song, please." The red head's eyes light up as she nodded, I couldn't contain a big smile. _We are going to win this._

…

"Thank you for today." I voiced simply as Maki and I walked back home after a way too long practice, she seemed a bit confused by my sudden words. "About our talk, you did cheer me up…"

Maki looked away. "Don't mention it… I-I just tried to help…" She voiced like it was no big deal. I took a deep breath, looking down to the floor and then to the redhead.

"Can I ask you something else today?" I asked a bit shyly, _I want… to know more about you, Maki._

She seemed confused for a second. "Sure?" She just said.

"What did you mean about doing what you loved for yourself and not for others? You meant your parents?" _I can barely believe I was brave enough to ask._

"Huh?" Maki was a bit surprised by the question. "Yeah, mostly. They used to… not _force_ me, but _pressure_ me in a way… to play in a concert, for every piano contest, recitals and all that. To the point I almost stopped playing at all." Maki shuddered her shoulders. " Until I decided I wanted to play when _I_ wanted to _…"_ She locked her eyes with mines. "I do love music, after all." I opened my eyes wide, a bit shocked by Maki's word… mostly because she said something so personal about herself so easily. My silence must have made panic her a bit. "I-It's not that they are mean or anything! They just wanted me to be successful… which is okay, too."

"But… it's hard, right?" I finished what I thought was on her mind. She gave me a quick look.

"Sometimes it is, sometimes I _really_ thank them for it." She giggled a bit which made me smile hugely. "Especially now, will the Love Live and all." It felt amazing to see her trusting me like this…

"Can I ask you more questions?" I gave her a shy smile, I felt like I was pushing my luck too much.

"You just did, but yeah." She answered with her husky voice and smiled. _How something so simple as talking to her makes me so happy? I'm so glad she trusts me like this…_

"So, about your parent's hospital…"

/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

 **Maki's POV:**

I finished my cleaning duties… the ones I _really_ hated. I stretched my back as I followed Hana to her broadcast room, _I still have some time left before practice._ "See? I told you, our club is awesome." I looked around, _there are so many buttons here.._. there's also mics and cameras everywhere. She was smirking proudly at me. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"Nope." I had to smirk back. "Doesn't look like a big deal, to be honest." She got red with anger and was about to say something back. _What does she want to talk with me, anyway?_

"W-What did you just said, Maki-chan?" I opened my eyes wide at the other voice coming from behind me… then I cautiously turned my face towards the sound… _Oh no, I forgot how much she cares about-_

"P-President, she didn't mean to-"

"It was just a joke, Fuyumi…" I defended myself as I curled my hair, the girl with glasses crossed her arms. _She takes this thing way too serious._

"I'll forgive you if you let us give the Muse's an interv-"

"No. I've told you over and over again: No!" I interrupted her bluntly. _Just drop it already!_

"Could it be that it makes you nervous?" Hana teased me with another one of her grins, as Fuyumi just went back to being angry with me for mocking her precious place.

"Ha! You'll be broadcasted live in a few days… and you have the nerve to laugh at-"

"Yeah, yeah… wait! I'll be what?" Fuyumi furrowed her eyebrow so much, her glasses almost fell.

"You don't know? How clueless! Your next performance will be broadcasted live!" She grabbed a camera and pointed it at me like she was actually filming. I gave her an unamused look because I knew it was off.

"Why I didn't knew that either? That's so cool!" Hana exclaimed with excitement, her eyes sparkled.

"How exactly did you-"

"I have my sources." She pointed out before she pushed her glasses back enigmatically. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, I have to go now. You two never stop annoying me these days…" Or at least they did two weeks ago when we started our duties, _I guess they are not that bad, I could've had worst luck._ "I'll see you two in our daily torture tomorrow." I waved at them before I left the room.

"Bye, Maki!" I could hear Hana voice, her usual enthusiasm still there.

"Why did you came here with Maki-chan?" I rolled my eyes with a grin, _how dare you bring this peasant to my club -scratch that- sanctuary, Hana-chan?_ I giggled at my mental image of the scolding. _Oh… I forgot my bag,_ I turned around, going back to the broadcast room.

"I-I just wanted to talk to h-her … eek!" Hana gasped when she saw I was back. _Why is she so flustered?_

"Sorry, forgot my bag." Fuyumi seemed to panic a bit before she grabbed my things and pushed me out of the room.

"We have serious business here, Maki-chan!" And just like that, she closed the door. I blinked twice… then I rolled my eyes. _These two are such a weirdos…_ but maybe that's why we became… _are we friends, maybe?_ I shook my head as I pulled my bag over my shoulder. I should go get changed before… I flinched at the school clock. _I-It's late!_

…

I was walking as fast as I could, _I guess I'm a bit late..._ I stepped into our club room as I took a deep breath. "Where have you been?" I opened my eyes wide. It was Eli, _and now she is going to scold me_. But I smirked at her, _was she worried about me?_ I don't want her to worry but it does make me smile when she does. "I've been looking all over for you! And we have been calling-why are you smiling like-"

"Ah… sorry. It took me a bit longer to finish my cleaning duties-"

"Shouldn't we start the meeting?" Umi stood next to our whiteboard, giving me a disapproving look. The rest of the girls were sitting around the table, some of them giggled at me, _I was busy!_ I looked sideways at Eli as I sat next to her. Umi explained everything to us in full detail. I felt the atmosphere get tenser with each word. _Am I nervous? Maybe… but I also want to win this. We have to._ "And the concert is going to be broadcasted live." _Ah, so Fuyumi was right after all…_

"Then only four teams will move on to the final round, right?" Eli asked, and I knew she was feeling as competitive as me.

"That won't be easy…" I shared out loud.

"We will have to find a good place to perform, too…"

"And Tokyo is the most difficult region." Nozomi pointed out this time. _That's right…_

"And we will be against…" _A-Rise,_ I thought, clenching my fists on my kness.

…

I stretched my back as I walked back home with Eli by my side. "Ugh, why are you making us practice so hard?" Eli looked at me with a smirk. _Between the cleaning duties and our practice, my back is going to break one of these days…_

"I thought you wanted to win this." I smiled at her and she did the same. " _Maybe_ it's not _my_ training, it's just that they gave you way too many cleaning duties lately…" I had to laugh at her tone.

"Too many? It's just every day for a whole month, you know that…" I smirked as a teasing idea came to my mind. "Don't tell me you have been missing me, huh?" Somehow, it feels okay to joke with Eli like this, it wasn't a sentence I never thought I could say to anyone.

Eli gave me a quick look before she blushed. "I won't tell you, then. But _maybe_ that is true." I was the one flustered this time.

"D-Don't say embarrassing things like that-"

"Why? You are the one who asked…" She simply said as I saw half a smirk on her face, _she is knowingly embarrassing me!_ Then Eli just… she kept looking at me. Which made me do the same… to the point I had to blush and look around to make sure we won't stumble over something as we walked on the street. Her intense blue eyes made me feel nervous suddenly.

"D-Don't tell me you are going to ask about my parents and expectations and the weight on our shoulders again like the other day-"

Eli chuckled. "No, that's not it." I stopped walking, making her stop too as I furrowed my eyebrow at her.

" _That's not it?_ Then _what_ is it?" Eli shuddered her shoulders as she turned around and continued walking. "Hey! You have been acting…" _Not weird, just… something feels… different._

"I don't know what are you talking about." She voiced simply as I catched up to her. I rolled my eyes with frustration… "Well, I got you home safely." She proclaimed with a smile, making me snort.

"You mean _I_ got us home safely? Well… to my home or… we technically passed _your_ home too. So I meant both-" Eli giggled at my muttering. "What I mean! Is that I am stronger than you!" I smirked at her as she got closer… I blushed… until she put up her chin to show how she was taller than me.

I gave her an unamused look. "Ha! Like you are _that_ much taller than me…"

"I am, though." She grinned with pride and I couldn't contain my smile as I had my arms crossed. She was challenging me, so I didn't took my eyes off hers to show I wasn't losing to her this time. Eli chuckled and shook her head. "Goodnight, shortcake." I flinched at the name she gave me, I rolled my eyes at the same time I blushed.

"You lost!" I yelled at her using one of my hands as a megaphone, she just waved at me with a chuckle.

/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

I walked home with Hanayo and Rin this time. Eli, Nozomi and a reluctant Nico had to stay at school because the third years had a test. I was still bothered by it… I couldn't come up with any excuse to help them out, so I left. _'And you have to go to the hospital today, right?'_ Eli whispered to me. _'Good luck!'_ She said petting my head with one of her warm smiles… I blushed and left them be. Not only that, but they had a meeting about university and life after they finish… _I… I don't want to think about that, they still have months left, why are they making them talk about it so early?!_ I shook my head as I felt my sore muscles, we practiced even harder today, our song is solid and so is the music… the choreography is as sharp as ever. But… there's something that has been bothering some of us.

"T-The cameras…" Hanayo muttered randomly, Rin and I were walking home with her. _The cameras, huh?_

"What about them, nya?" Rin asked, genuinely concerned.

"T-They make me so nervous…" I grabbed my chin, _there's still something else we can do in order to perform at our best in this round._ _Ah! I have an idea! I'll have to ask Eli what she thinks about it later…_

…

"So you think is a good idea?" I asked Eli through the phone while I looked up to my room ceiling, I debated with myself whether to ask her or not… I did not even know if Fuyumi would agree to help us out.

"Absolutely! It will be very helpful… especially for Hanayo and Umi, I think." I smiled at her voice. "You think the broadcast club would be okay with that?"

"Oh yeah, definitely…" I lied, m _aybe I can convince them saying that they can do an interview later, as long as I am not in it._ "A-Anyways… how was the meeting? And the study session?" I asked as I lean in to rest my elbow on the desk.

"It was… alright. We studied hard today and I don't think Nico quite liked that." We giggled together. _So… you are not going to talk about the whole university topic yet, huh?_ It made me feel good in a way. _It's still months away…_ "Are you still there?"

"Y-Yeah!" I shook my head. "I… I'll see you tomorrow?"

/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

I sighed with frustration. _Why are we outside the school playing with Nico's camera when we could be practicing for real!?_ My idea was to use the resources we had here to practice our performance, _that's what A-Rise would do._ And that resource was the broadcast club. _We need to use all the tools to beat them!_

"If you mess up, the entire world will see it!" Hanayo exclaimed, pointing the camera towards Honoka. _S-She is going to hurt someone with that thing-_

"Not only that, but we need something original! Something to impress everyone!" Nico said matter of factly. _Well, this is going to take a while._

"Like a new song?" Rin asked incredulously. _We already have that, Rin…_

"Or a costume?" Kotori said this time. _We also have that! And you made them, Kotori!_

"Hmm… like a sexy costume?" Nozomi asked, looking at me with some pervert eyes. _S-She is so shameless-_

"I-I couldn't handle that…" Umi sat down, covering her face. _M-Me neither…_

"I'd love to see Elicchi in a sexy dress!" Nozomi teased, I froze right there as I heard Eli gasp with horror. I looked at Eli's back and her long blonde hair… _E-Eli… in a s-sexy dress?_ My mind went black and I had to look at Nozomi, it baffles me how she can say stuff like that so calmly. Nozomi wiggled her eyebrows at me before she looked at the blonde in front of us. "Hehe…" Nozomi covered her mouth mockingly, still waiting for Eli to react. _Eli in a sexy dress?_ It was like my brain couldn't process those words.

"Sexual harassment!-"

"I wouldn't wear something like that!" Eli finally yelled something back at Nozomi. I was spacing out, not even listening to the turmoil of voices around me… _I can't think about that, I can't think about that. No, I can't. I won't. I can't, I can't…_ I shook my head.

"Nobody asked you-"

"I'm going to pinch you-"

"Shouldn't we be going somewhere else?" I asked, cutting everyone off. _Do not think, Maki. Just think about tomatoes. Tomatoes…_ I took a deep breath, focusing on _not_ focusing.

"Hmm? Going where?" Honoka asked, grabbing a half-fainted Umi on her arms.

"To the broadcast room, they must be waiting for us!" Eli almost commanded as she stormed away, she seemed somewhat embarrassed still. The rest of the girls nodded. I decided to stand there as they all walked towards the building. I looked up to the sky as I curled my hair. _Finally, some alone time… Alright, now… Eli in a sexy dress? A sexy dress… how would she look… she does look incredible in everything she wears, so… I've seen her in a bikini before-_

"Hmm? Still thinking about certain someone showing some cleavage in an overly short and tight black dress?" Nozomi smirked at me and that's when _it_ hit me. My mouth opened slightly and it was like one of Umi's arrows pierced through me. No breathing technique could take _that_ picture away from my brain now. Eli giving me a smirk and- My cheeks grew redder than ever before. "Hmm… who would have thought that you were a little-"

"S-Shut up, Nozomi!" I walked past her in a hurry as I heard her giggle, _why do I let her tease me like this?! I shouldn't even be thinking like that! T-This is wrong and disrespectful!_ I shook my head so hard that I felt a tiny headache. The rest of the girls were waiting for us near the broadcast room. _Just don't look at her, it's time to get to work!_

…

 **Eli's POV:**

 _Hmm…_ _why are Nozomi and Maki taking so long to get-Ah! Here they are!_ I opened my mouth to ask Maki if-but she just walked past me and opened the door of the broadcast room, making me blink twice.

"Sorry for being late…" She voiced towards the two girls that were inside the room. " _They_ got distracted"

"Maki-chan, you are-ah!" The club president seemed about to scold Maki, which seemed weird… _She seemed so composed in every council meeting we had before. Hmm… what was her name-_

"This is the broadcast president, Fuyumi. And her personal assistant, Hana…" The redhead explained before she gave the 'assistant' a smirk, the whole scene made me furrow an eyebrow. _Is Maki this close to them? She used her names so casually…_

"M-Maki you are-" The girl stopped talking as the president gave her a glare. Then they simply smiled at us, politely. "W-welcome." They did not move, they just stood there with some stoic faces, looking at us… _I guess they are trying to be professional?_ I had to contain a chuckle. _They are from Maki's class, after all…_

"Nice to meet you!" Of course Honoka didn't notice anything weird in this conversation.

"Now, what can we do for you?" The president asked, sitting on her chair like it was her throne. Maki gave her an unamused look before she sighed.

"I thought you had something in mind to help us…" The redhead voiced almost threatening.

"W-What about letting the group introduce themselves in our lunch break?" The other girl asked behind the president, who just flinched at the idea. Maki just grinned, which made me smile, _they are friends after all…_ I'm secretly happy about her cleaning duties now. _I hated them before because it meant less time with her… but now…_

"Could we do that? Really?" Honoka took a step with excitement. The president just placed a hand on her board… _I-Is she trying to hide that she does not like the idea?_

"Yeah, that's totally fine." Maki chuckled and I almost did the same…

"There we have it, the permission of the president itself." I had to stop myself from giggling, _I guess Maki enjoys annoying these two._ I felt warm and happy to see her like that, even though I knew she still thought she was terrible at making friends and meeting new people… She grew so much since I initially saw her… The redhead seemed ready to give a speech and I was eager to hear it, giving her my full attention. "If we can appeal to the students, we will get their support and we will gain some experience too." I smiled wide.

"This is a great idea, Maki-chan!" Honoka voiced cheerfully.

"And we will not have to worry about _messing up_ , we are in our own school after all." _It is a great practice, after all._ _W-Wait… why is one of the president's eyes twitching?_

"Oh!" I turned around to follow the voice, Hanayo and Rin were just behind the entrance… they looked incredibly amused.

"Is something wrong?" I asked them, they kept looking at-

"Seeing Maki-chan being so friendly with another classmate…" Rin pointed out, still impressed. I smirked, _of course I am not the only one who noticed._

"Is so surprising!" Hanayo completed the other girl's sentence. I looked at Maki just in time to see her panic show up.

"A-Ah!" I chuckled silently as Maki blushed and looked away, crossing her arms. "W-We just are on cleaning duty together so there's that!" I had to giggle for real this time. _Maki looks so adorable when she is flustered._

"Well, well… let's not tease Maki so much." The president assistant… _Hana, I think?_ Voiced softly. Maki turned her face towards her and Hana… I furrowed my eyebrow, _did she just gave Maki a wink?_ "We will have everything ready for you tomorrow!" She said towards the rest of us this time.

"Yeah! Thank you so much!" Honoka exclaimed as I kept thinking…

"I'm done with this day." Voicing that, Maki left the room, still a bit embarrassed. I instinctively followed her. Honoka said goodbye and we walked through the hall. "Let's go practice already!" _No… maybe I'm reading too much into it._

 _/-/-/-/-/_

* * *

 _/-/-/-/-/_

Today we were going to use the lunch break to use the broadcast room, we decided Honoka, Umi and Hanayo to be the ones to do the talking since we thought they were the ones who most needed it.

"Maki! Hello everyone!" _Ah, it's Hana…_ "Everything is ready!" She grabbed Maki's arm and pulled her into the room, Honoka followed them excitedly.

"Yahoo!-"

"H-Hey, let me go…" I could hear Maki muttering as Hana pulled her away, the scene gave me a bad feeling in my guts.

 **…**

The broadcast was over and the only thing I did was stand next to the door, I wasn't only observing Honoka, Umi and Hanayo… I was inspecting _everything._ I needed to know if I was right or wrong. _The worst part is that the more I watch this girl with Maki… the more I think I'm right._ I never felt this kind of… _worry. That's how I am going to call this._ I bite my lip with frustration as the girls continued the broadcast.

 **…**

 **Maki's POV:**

I sighed with relief when everything was over, _Hanayo seemed to get more confident in the end,_ I thought as we walked back to the roof to practice _._ I smiled, looking to my left… _Eli seems too quiet…_ "It did not go _that_ bad, right?" The blonde snapped out of her own thoughts because of my voice. "The broadcast?" I explained because she didn't seem to understand what I asked.

"Oh! Yeah, it was great!" She looked away, looking uncomfortable. I curled my hair… suddenly feeling like I miss the blonde. _But we do spend a lot of time together, though._

"Are we walking back home together?" I had to be really blushed, I did not know how I managed to ask something like that. "I-I mean… walk to our respective homes…" _I'm so stupid! Why can't I speak normally!_ But Eli's eyes did light up…

"Yeah! We should!" She couldn't contain her smile and that made my heart skip a beat. "I would love that…" The blonde muttered. "Even though that we do that often, but… I mean, I've been busy studying, I guess." She giggled and I got more nervous. "And you have been busy too-"

"It's not a big deal! I-It's not like I've been missing you or anything!" I said in an outburst, Eli's smile went wider…

"I know, I know." She just voiced standing in the middle of the hall, and I did the same. My eyes got lost in the blue ones as I kept feeling my cheeks burning. _Why are we just standing here…_

"W-What are you doing?" I asked hashly as Eli gave me a smirk.

"We are in front of my classroom… yours is that way, right?" I opened my eyes wide as she pointed out to the right, using her thumb. _This is the most shameful! How can I… be so lame!_

"I- Yeah!" I stormed away, way too embarrassed to say anything else. But I could hear Eli's giggle as I walked away. I covered my forehead… _The lamest!_

 _/-/-/-/-/_

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

Another day, another issue to resolve… Today's mission was to find a place to perform. I was tired of walking around the entire city with no luck and I'll never know how we ended up in front of A-rise's school… _I hate this building!_ I snort, crossing my arms. _And it's as crowded as ever… I hate it-_

"We lost Honoka-chan!" Kotori pried, followed by Umi.

"And where are Nico-chan and-"

"Ahhh!" _Huh?_ We heard some screams coming from… _Why are Hanayo and Nico running towards the school!? They are going to get us in trouble!_

"Oh, no…" Eli voiced before she ran away after them. Nozomi and I exchanged some looks before we followed the others. _H-How do they manage to get in trouble so easily!_

"Hey! Let us in! We want to see Tsu-I-I mean! Our friend was kidnapped!" Nico commanded and the woman in charge of the entrance didn't seem too happy about it.

"I've told you, if you are not a student from this school, you need a permit. Period." The woman grinned.

"But Tsubasa-" Eli stepped in. _I guess she does look like the more mature of all of us._

"What they mean is that our friend got lost and-"

"She is not-" Nozomi covered Nico's mouth to stop the girl from talking.

"We wanted some help finding her." Eli finished, not before giving a glare towards Nico. The receptionist sighed.

"What's her name?"

"Kousaka Hono-"

"Ara. The Muse's are here." We turn around… it was the two other A-Rise members. _It's Yuuki Anju … Hmph… now, what are they after?_ We all were a bit confused, but I had a bad feeling.

"They are our companions for today." The girl with darker hair voiced towards the receptionist, who just sighed in response.

"Alright…" _Why they had to act so mysterious? Like they are a big deal…_ The two A-rise members walked past us as the woman opened one of the doors.

"Are you coming or not?" The girl with dark hair asked, _what was her name?_ I couldn't quite remember. All of us exchanged some looks before Eli stepped in, with us diligently following her. "I'm Toudou Erena." She voiced bluntly and with pride.

"And my name is Yuuki Anju." She said softly before she bowed politely, _well, I do know that…_. "Welcome to our school." She finished with a smile.

"A pleasure to meet you." The rest of the girls said at different times.

"Please follow us." Erena voiced simply and started walking, we just followed. I had to snort at her command.

After walking through some halls, we entered a big room. Where Honoka and... _Kira Tsubasa,_ I remembered with the name's owner voice, where facing each other. Erena sighed as the two other A-Rise members walked towards their leader, we just followed them awkwardly.

"Tsubasa, stop causing so much trouble…" Erena voiced towards the other girl, but she just kept staring at Honoka. Anju and Erena stood next to Tsubasa, _that position seems natural to them._

"Welcome to UXT High School." Tsubasa said with her usual charm, talking to all of us. _Ugh, I can't stand them…_ "Even though you might know that already…" She said that looking directly at me and I had to contain a growl.

"I-It's A-Rise!" Nico voiced with amusement as she grabbed Honoka's shoulders. _You need to stop, they are our competition now!_

"C-Could I… H-Have your autograph…" Hanayo stepped with a paper on hand, ready for her task. _You have to be kidding me!_ I crossed my arms with annoyance.

"Sure." Tsubasa answered with a smile. _Great. Feed that ego!_

"R-Really?!" Hanayo and Nico couldn't quite believe it. I knew how annoyed I looked. On the other hand… I noticed Eli half smiling towards the scene. _There's nothing adorable about this, Eli._ The blonde turns her gaze towards me like she could feel my mood. She notices my arms crossed and I knew in another circumstance she wouldn't hesitate to ask me what was wrong, I decided to just look away.

"We have known about all of you for a while now." Tsubasa explained a bit the situation, I had to roll my eyes. "Follow us so we can talk." _About what, exactly?_ Still, we found ourselves following the three girls, _once again_! I couldn't know when I started to curl my hair.

"Is something wrong?" Eli asked me with caution, _I knew you would ask sooner or later._

"No." I voiced with an unamused face as I kept looking ahead.

"Alright…" She voiced, even though I knew she wasn't giving up that easily. _They just annoy the hell out of me, Eli… for a number of reasons._

Tsubasa led us all towards what seemed like… _a VIP coffee room? Ha! What a show-off…_ "Make yourselves feel at home." The rest of us exchanged some looks awkwardly before we sat down. Eli sat right between A-rise and me, it seemed intentional and even protective. _I'm not trying to pick a fight with them, Eli… although if they start with it, I can't promise I won't respond!_ I kept curling my hair, I couldn't be bothered about anything they were going to say to us. _Aren't we losing our time here? Shouldn't we be looking for a stage to perform instead of socializing with the enemy?_

"Sorry for causing so much trouble…" Hanayo voiced shyly, _since when she gets so talkative around strangers? Only because they are A-Rise?_

"It's alright, don't worry about it." Anju answered and I just rolled my eyes, crossing my arms once again.

"This is a wonderful school." Eli voiced with her cheerful honesty.

"Hmph." I voiced, maybe a bit too loud but I wasn't even sorry. _Not you too, Eli…_

"Tch, why are you acting like this, now?" Nico scolded me. _At least I am not acting like their lap dog, hmm, Nico-chan?_

Anju giggled a bit before she talked once again. "You are school idols too, right?" _Yeah, like you did not know that already… honestly, this people!._ "And from our same district."

"Kousaka Honoka." Tsubasa started a speech once again, she seemed fixated with Honoka in particular. "I could spot you right from all over here, you are even more charming in person…" I furrowed an eyebrow.

"A charm that attracts people… a different kind of charisma." Erena said, almost too enigmatically. "You shine the brightest, maybe that's why you are the leader."

"We have been keeping an eye on you all…" I opened my eyes wide, _they have… been studying us. Analyzing us!_ The rest of the girls gasped, but they weren't surprised for the same reason I was. They were flattered and… I felt threatened.

"We thought you were going to be our biggest rivals in the Love Live and-"

"We were right." Erena completed Anju's sentence. I glanced towards Eli, she was slightly blushed.

"T-That's not like-"

"You too." Tsubasa interrupted Eli bluntly, making me flinch. _You…_

"Ayase Eli." Erisa continued and I felt my stomach flip. "I heard you always ranked high in national ballet contest when you were in Russia." I was frozen. _How. Dare. They._ I wasn't even moving, I kept staring at Eli as they gave _me_ compliments this time. _I'm so done._

I realized I got even angrier with each compliment they gave the others. _Not only are they messing with our minds! But they… also knew something I didn't about Eli? Who they think they are? They have been investigating how to take us down! And what's with this fake friendly sportsmanship…_

…

 **Eli's POV:**

Alright, Maki… you definitely don't like them… _For some reason,_ I thought as I watched the redhead not say a single word since we left A-rise's school. We discussed the offer and decided to give it some better thought tomorrow. We separated, walking in groups to our respective homes.

I glanced cautiously towards Maki. She was acting way too strange since our encounter with A-rise… _Maki can get annoyed easily, but this was something else._ We just walked past an ice cream store on our way back home. "Stop it… what is wrong, Maki?" She gave me a sharp look.

"How are you asking me what's wrong?" I flinched, waiting for her to continue. "It's obvious! They are playing mind games to mess with us…" She snorted, looking away. "Offering their stage to perform, who do they think they are…"

"I thought they were just being nice-"

"They are manipulating us! They just want to win at all cost, they only care about themselves, not us! They pretend they do, just because they want something... And that something is for us to lose!" I blinked twice at Maki's outburst of words. "And they are _not_ nice people, they are just selfish and self-interested… I don't get how you can't see anything suspicious about it!" She gave me an intense look, she was fully expecting me to back her up. "They want us to use the same stage to occlude our performance-"

"Want to go get some ice cream?" I countered with a smile, pointing with my thumb the place right next to us. Maki seemed way too confused. "My treat."

"Why… no, I don't-"

"Relax… is not like we are going on a date." _That would be way too… good to be true._

"S-Shut up…" Maki voiced with a mix of her former anger and current embarrassment.

 **Maki's POV:**

I sighed. _How can Eli manage to convince me to do anything she wants?_ Here we were… finishing our ice cream, _and how am I supposed to stay mad because of A-rise when I have Eli smiling like a kid as she ate some chocolate ice cream?_ I smiled at her, _she is such a child._

"So…" Eli trailed off as soon as she finished her dessert, she moved the glass from her sight before she intertwined her own fingers, resting them on the table as she gave me her full attention. "What do you know about them that we don't?"

I moved uncomfortably on my own seat. "I thought you didn't wanted me to rant about it." I looked at her, she just wanted to listen whatever was on my mind. "Ugh, fine…" I sighed, knowing that Stubborn Eli wasn't giving up tonight. "I've met them before…"

 **/ Flashback /**

"Thank you, Maki-chan. This is the end of your interview." I kept my arms crossed, giving her an unamused look. _Why am I even here? And who told her she could call me by my name?_ "I'll escort you out, the results will be given to you tomorrow… but i'm sure you know you already have a place here, with your good grades." _Like I care, I'm not studying in this noisy place!_ "Ah… you are a shy one, Maki-chan." I furrowed my eyebrow at her as we walked. I guess she said that because I wasn't saying anything. "You don't need to worry, the interview is mostly just to break the ice with potential new students. So they can get used to-"

"I am not shy. And don't call me that. Just don't expect to ever see me again at this-"

"And why is that, Nishikino-san?" I turned around. There was a not-so-tall girl, with brown short hair, she had her arms crossed and seemed more than a bit bothered by what I just said. She still gave me a smirk.

"T-That's none of your business…" I muttered without much confidence, _I don't even know you!_

"Then, I hope you reconsider. This is A-rise's school, after all. You know what I mean." She gave me another smirk, and I gave her a confused look.

"A-who?" I asked nonchalantly, it wasn't my intention but I smirked at the other girl's anger.

"Now, Tsubasa…" Anju tried to calm the situation there.

"You don't even know about us, do you?" _Am I supposed to?_ "Whatever… the point is: you are a talented composer. It would be such a waste that you didn't come here to reach your true potential. Actually, it would be cowardly."

"A-And how do you know that?" I had to stutter, she caught me off guard.

"I'm sorry if Tsubasa was a bit rude there, Maki-chan. We are just passionate about our performances. We are school idols." I looked at Anju, seeing a fire in her eyes I haven't seen in our short talk. "And she just admires your work… we would be honored to have-"

"You. _You_ should be honored to work with us." Tsubasa smiled cockily at me. "Alright, I just hope you come to our school. We can take you to the next level, you know? Choose wisely. I'm Tsubasa Kira, by the way." And just like that, she left. I couldn't even think quick enough to counter anything she said.

"S-She is not like that all the time…" Anju voiced nervously.

"Whatever. Thanks, but no thanks." _I've made my decision already._ This time I was the one walking away.

 **/ End of Flashback /**

"And that's it. That's why I don't like them." I ate the last bite of my ice cream, Eli still seemed surprised by the story.

"Y-You… tried to get into their high school?" _Huh? That's what you are going to ask?_

"Yeah, well… my dad studied there, so…" I explained, not giving so much of a thought. "But I didn't wanted to get in there, I always wanted to study in Otonokizawa." Eli smiled wide.

"Why?" The blonde asked simply, I felt like the conversation was moving away from the original conflict, I moved a bit on my chair. "I'm genuinely curious…" Eli encouraged me.

I looked at her with a blush. "H-Honestly?" Eli nodded eagerly and I had to look away. "T-There was no music club so no one was going to bother me… L-Less students, too." I voiced almost whispering to myself as I played with my hair, but Eli did hear me and proceeded to laugh out loud. "I-It's also where my mom studied so that's not the only reason!"

She just smiled at me. "Well, I am certainly glad you did. It creeps me out… one tiny decision like that could have avoided the nine of us from knowing each other's, life is so weird." _Not meeting Hanayo, Rin, Honoka, Eli…_ I did not want to think about that, I couldn't even imagine it. "Oh, and I don't think you should give it so much thought. I mean, they were just scouting you, the best composer to ever exist…" She smirked at me and I just rolled my eyes. "I wouldn't blame them." She said casually as she sipped her drink.

"They are still way too… ugh! _Especially_ Tsubasa." Eli giggled at me.

"Hmm… You do tend to hate people when you first meet them, you know?" She grabbed her chin as she looked right into my eyes like she was psychoanalyzing me. "That's until you-"

"That's not true! I mean, I liked you-"

Her laugh cut me off. "You challenged me every single time you saw me… and I was your senior _and_ the student council president." Eli chuckled, probably because of the memory. _Well, she does have a point…_ I had to contain a laugh.

"That's just because you were being annoying _and_ unreasonable!" I snorted without being able to hide a laugh. "At least I never hated you. I find you... hard to hate." I muttered lowly, thankful with myself for managing to say something embarrassing without it sounding so... _embarrassing._ She laughed this time.

"I'm flattered." She gave me a gentle smile as she stood up without notice.

"Hey, this conversation is not over! I don't tend to dislike people…" _Hmm… or do I?_ That sounded unconvincing. _Now that I do think about it…_

Eli just laughed again. "Whatever you say, Maki. I should get you home, is getting late and we have practice tomorrow." I just nodded and followed her out of the shop. "Besides… what better way to show A-rise what we are made of than qualifying using their own stage?" Eli asked over her shoulder with a smirk, the way she talked made me smile wide as I quickened my steps to catch up to her. She chuckled calmly. "You shouldn't worry about it. We are going to win this…" I had to smirk at her confidence, knowing she was as competitive as me… _or even more than me. But this is not just about competing… This is also about you, Eli. About the third years, as much as the three of you don't want to accept it. We already saved the school and now we want to win this because of the three of you._

"I am not worried about losing to them…" I voiced looking away as I remembered the former encounter. "But that's not everything that bothered me about them…" I curled my hair angrily, not knowing what got into me to admit that out loud. _Why do they know about your ballet ranks? And why I don't know that? Also, why am I so bothered at myself for not knowing that? For not asking more about you…_ _Do the others even know that you did ballet?_

 **Eli's POV:**

Maki was silent again. "Yeah?" I had to ask to make her continue. _What else could have possibly bothered you?_

"I don't know if I'm asking something I shouldn't but… what happened to you and ballet?" That did catch me off guard, _she is asking something about me?_ "S-Sorry, I shouldn't have asked-"

 _Oh… they did mention it._ "No, don't worry…" I had to bite my lower lip to contain a smile _._ I felt conflicted: on one side… I wanted to tell everything about me to Maki, just because it meant spending time with her and because it would be special, not something I shared about with just anyone. _On the other side…_

"I mean, they did knew about your ranks and all that, so…" I blinked twice at Maki's bitter tone, using her own way of encouraging me to talk. _But this is a long story, Maki… and not a particularly good one. It's one of the many sides I hate about myself. One I'm not sure I want you to know about… Especially you._

 **Maki's POV:**

"I would like to talk to you about it." Eli sighed before she gave me a reassuring smile, it did felt like a victory, _but…_ "But we will do it another day, alright? We are next to your house already and we do need to rest." _So is it a long, sad story then?_

"Promise?" I tried not to be angry at myself, I've been letting her be the one to ask questions… and I feel like we only talk about me because I am not brave enough to ask about her. _Can't believe I am only just realizing that. I want to… be there for her like she has been there for me._

The blonde giggled. "Pinky promise." She gave me her pinky and had to chuckle before intertwining mine with hers.

"T-Text me when you get home…" I had to mutter, trying not to get embarrassed because I knew by now it wasn't a big deal, I asked her to that every time she insisted on walking me home.

"Like I always do." Eli smiled at me as a goodbye and walked away… I stood there, just looking at her go. _She tends to keep things to herself, just like me… or even more than me!_

/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

I took a deep breath in the dressing room, I was starting to let the anxiousness that came before a show get to me… _A-rise do really intimidate sometimes. We need to do better than them tonight! If we don't it's over-_

"Maki, are you done? You forgot your flower crown…" I noticed Eli's voice just from outside the dresser.

I sighed as I opened the door. "Y-Yeah, I'm ready…" I hugged my body, I felt a bit cold but I knew that would pass as soon as we started dancing. I glanced up to Eli and I had to blush, _s-she looks so good in that color, I'm-_

"Y-You look beautiful!" Eli exclaimed a bit shyly before she cleared her throat. "Here you go…" She placed the crown over my head. "Now you look like a princess." I opened my eyes wide and Eli did the same, covering her own mouth. "I… didn't mean to-"

"S-Stop teasing me! I'm nervous enough already…" _How can she say something like that so calmly!_

"I-It was a joke…" Eli voiced unconvincingly as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, don't be nervous." _Her voice can get so soft sometimes…_ "We are-wow… are you cold?" She proceeded to move her hands through my arms to warm me. "You are free-"

"A-Aren't you? I mean, your…" _Your chest is definitely a lot more uncovered than mine!_ I blushed crossing my arms and walking past her. I took a deep breath, _there's going to be eight other people with me. My friends._ "And I know!" I voiced before she could say anything like I knew she was about to do. "There's nine of us so I shouldn't be nervous… I'm ready." _A-rise won't be._ I looked over my shoulder, Eli just smiled at me in response. "Let's go get the others!"

…

We finished our performance, the nine of us were still catching our breath. I stood a few steps behind the others, just watching the students congratulate them. I had to smile, _It was a good show… we managed to do it in the end._

"Hey, you." Eli voiced as she walked towards me. I smiled at her as she stood to my left.

"Hey, you." I repeated simply, watching Honoka laugh with her classmates.

"I thought the audience loved the song and I think it was one of our best performances…" She said simply as she kept watching the others enjoy themselves, just like me. "So far…"

I had to smirk looking at her. "I like the way your mind works." I know what she meant. _This isn't our peak performance. We can do so much more._ "You were right about Honoka… she was born to lead and give inspirational speeches when they are needed… she gave us the confidence in the right time." Eli giggled, it made me smile how much she could actually laugh. It was a contrast with the student president I met a few months ago. "Just don't say that you are _always_ right because you are not." I voiced teasingly.

"Oh, no. I am not always right… _You_ are just always wrong, it's different." We laughed together this time.

"Maki-chan!" I flinched as someone called me. I saw Hana and Fuyumi, _w-why are they here?_

 **Eli's POV:**

I had to smile. "I guess you have cleaning duties today too, huh?" Maki gave me a glare and I bumped her with my shoulder. "Come on, they are your friends. Go talk to them…"

"T-They are not…" I had to give her an unamused look.

"See? _Always_ wrong." I sighed as she snorted at me. I pushed her once more, _don't be so stubborn… they came here for you._

"Alright, alright… Sheesh…" Maki reluctantly stepped away from me and towards the broadcast duo.

"It was amazing Maki!" I could hear Hana voicing happily as she grabbed Maki's hands, which made my smile diminish.

"We filmed everything… even some behind the scenes!" The president fixed her glasses as she smiled wide.

"A-And who gave you two the right, Fuyumi!?" I saw Maki blush and cross her arms, the way she does so often.

"You should have seen your face, watching A-rise perform…" The president teased. "I have it all in here…" She said, caressing her beloved camera.

"Delete it!" Maki yelped as she tried to grab the camera. I had to contain a chuckle, _she can be so silly sometimes… but…_ My eyes wandered towards the other girl. _I am not wrong, am I?_

"Elicchi!" I shook my head as Nozomi gave me a smile. "What if we go eat dinner with the others?"

"Yeah, good. That's a good idea!" I voiced maybe a bit too absentminded. "Let's get going, then." I looked at her this time. "I _am_ starving." I left a confused Nozomi behind as I walked towards Honoka.

"Elicchi…?"

* * *

 **OKAY I POSTED IT! I've been so unsure of this chapter but... i finally decided to let it go and post it.**

 **PS: If you are reading this, I hope you liked the chapter! This is the point where I really start adding more to the story... hope the amount of time jumps were not that annoying... Anyways, thanks for reading! next few chapters are almost done so I promise they would be out soon... (the goal is one per week to avoid the messy hiatus I had, hope i can manage)**

 **Also yes, this is chapter 15 and i am still struggling with formatting :(**


	16. Chapter 16 - That Effect

**Another long chapter! I just... didn't wanted to split it, especially for taking so long to update. Here we go!**

* * *

 **That Effect**

* * *

 **Maki's POV:**

The nine of us were in our club room, waiting for the first round results… I was sitting with my eyes closed, pretending not to care… but I was panicking on the inside. _I guess my confidence left with the adrenaline of the performance… W-What if it wasn't enough, what if-_

"Is it over yet?!" Umi yelled as she stood there covering her ears.

"How are you supposed to hear us like that, Umi?" I yelled back, but she didn't seem to listen, _you can't hear anything at all!_

"Let's see what my cards are telling me…" Nozomi said as she started to mumble a mantra.

"The results, t-they are… here!" Hanayo exclaimed and everyone gathered around the screen. "First place… A-rise." I shivered, _of course! And we performed on the same stage, this could give us trouble!_ I couldn't contain myself any longer so I stepped in to look at the computer with the others. "Second place, East Heart… Third place, Midnight Cats…" _Oh no, this is going just like Honoka's dream! I thought Nozomi was the spiritual one but maybe it's actually Honoka-_ "Fourth place…" I gulped. "Mu… Muse's." We all seemed to freeze. I waited for my mind to process the news.

"So… is that us? Is not that brand of-"

"Of course not!" _It's… us. It's us! We qualified!_

"Yay!" Most of the girls exclaimed as they ran away, _where are we even going? Oh, I don't really care right now!_ I followed them as some giggled and jumped with excitement.

…

I had a serious expression, still trying to understand _how_ I ended up here. "Can I ask again… Why… Why are we hugging the alpacas?!" I asked Hanayo and Rin as I saw them doing just that, wondering how exactly was _this_ celebrating our achievement.

"It's your turn, Maki-chan!" Rin pointed out, giving me an evil smirk.

"N-No-" Rin hugged me from behind and got me closer to the alpacas. "Rin, stop!"

"Nya!" She voiced happily as one of the alpacas licked my cheek. _No!_ I felt like my soul left my body. "See? They like you too!" _T-They are nice but…_ I felt my cheek wet. _It's… d-disgusting!_ I shivered.

…

I took a deep breath, after the incident with the alpaca... the day went downhill. _Just when I thought the day started off alright with the news of our qualification, all this had to happen. Instead of celebrating and planning our next move…_ We literally spent most of the day following Nico around the entire city… _How can she be so troublesome? Hiding things like that shouldn't have been easy for her…_

"Worrying about Nico?" Eli asked me, she seemed to be thinking about the other third year too. Nico ran away from us today… only for us to find out that she just needed to take care of her sisters and brother. _And find out she has been telling them all this time that we are her 'support dancers' or something!_ I snorted at the memory.

"N-No! I am not! I don't even care! I just don't understand how she can be like that, keeping everything to herself… not even Nozomi knew about their siblings!" Eli just giggled at me.

"Everyone needs different circumstances to break out of their own shell… I guess its Nico's time." I furrowed my eyebrow at her, trying to understand what she was talking about. _Is she implying that I am the same-_ "Oh! Or are you angry because of our ' _lack of talent'_?" She asked mockingly and I gave her an unamused look, remembering the words of Nico's little sister.

"Ha! Like you took the 'background dancers' _that_ well!" I smirked at her, remembering the twitch in her eye when she heard that. Eli just scoffed, making me giggle. "Eli 'The Background Dancer' Ayase. It is catchy."

"Oh… its Maki 'Not Funny' Nishikino." She rolled her eyes, which only made the situation more fun for me. I bumped her with my shoulder, just because. "H-Hey what was that?" I shuddered with a smile. _Why don't you like being called a background dancer, huh? I mean, not that I do like it, but… I feel like there's something else behind it._ But I decided not to change the topic… _yet._

"Do you think Honoka's plan is going to work?" I asked simply, I couldn't stop myself from worrying about losing a Muse's member. Not after all the times it _almost_ happened before.

"I hate to admit it, but Honoka's plans work well most of the time." She gave me a look and I locked my eyes with her.

"I guess you are right. Her plans do work better than yours…" I teased with a smile, she just grinned in response, like she was amused at my mockery. I had the courage to ask what has been bothering me. "So… don't we have something to talk about?" _Don't make me ask you again…_

"Hmm? What about?" Eli seemed confused as I gave her an unamused look. _And I am the one who bottles things up?_

"You are bad at keeping promises." I pointed out a bit bitterly.

"What do you mean?" She asked and I stood there looking at her. I showed her my pinky and she then seemed to realize what I was talking about. "Oh, _that…_ "

...

 **Eli's POV:**

"Yeah, _that…"_ Maki said and I sighed, not knowing how to get myself out of this now. _I kind of hoped she would forget..._ Maki is not like that, though. We stood there, in an awkward silence. _I-I don't really want to talk about it._ I had to scratch my neck as I tried to figure something to say. Maki seemed to grow impatient. "Are we going to talk or you are going to make me buy you a chocolate cake or something first?" I had to blink twice at Maki, who kept her arms crossed, giving me a glare. The blush in her cheeks did not escape from me, though…

"Are… Are you using chocolate to convince me?" I had to laugh a bit. _Maki, you make not-liking-you so hard._

"I'm just using your technique but changing the ice cream for cake!" I had to chuckle at the younger girl. "I-Is it working?" The redhead muttered as she got redder. "Because I know a good bakery not far away from here." She looked away curling her hair.

I felt a balloon of happiness inflate inside me, _Maki, of all people asking me to..._ I had to look away, if only it wasn't to talk about _that_. "I-Isn't it a bit late though-"

"Ugh, and _I_ am the stubborn?" She abruptly grabbed my arm by the wrist and started to pull me away.

"M-Maki-" I had to chuckle nervously at her touch. "It's okay, I can walk by myself." But that did not stop her until we got to the place she talked about, it wasn't far away. There weren't that many people around the place.

...

I just let Maki choose a table as I kept trying to think about a way to get out of this. She seemed even more stubborn than usual, she didn't even let me pay... which made me even more nervous. _We are eating something just the two of us... again_.

"See what you make me do? Sheesh…" She leaned on her elbow to rest her head as she looked away. There was some tense silence, probably because of me. "Oh, it's here." She ordered 3 types of chocolate cake… even though I tried to stop her. _This could work as a distraction…_

"Y-You shouldn't have-"

"Just eat it!" I giggled, not understanding why I found her harsh tone so endearing. "Sheesh…" I couldn't contain a smile as I looked at her.

"I know, I know… it's my fault you are angry now." I said as she took a bite of one of the cakes, I decided to follow her lead. _Oh, my! This is so good!_

"It's not that, you just- I don't know. You are frustrating sometimes." _I could say the same thing about you, Maki… In a good way._ She smirked. "It is good, right?"

"It has chocolate in it, of course is going to be good." I voiced maybe a bit like a child as the redhead giggled. _The company is better than the cake, though._ I took another bite. _Chocolate… save me._

"Grow up…" Maki said without containing a smile. I felt my cheeks grew red, remembering how embarrassed I felt when I got home after we ate ice cream the other day. _I-It's not like that. But still…_ _it's just the two of us._ "Which one is your favourite?" Maki asked with some curiosity, waking me up from my own thoughts. "No... let me guess." She smirked. "Triple chocolate?" I had to chuckle.

"You have been spending too much time with Nozomi..." Maki shrugged.

"It wasn't a hard guess, the more chocolate, the better for you. Right?" I couldn't help but smile as my cheeks blushed a bit. We eat in a bit of silence for a while, that is until Maki sighed. "Listen, I am not as good as you about asking questions…" I looked at her before I moved uncomfortably on my seat. I sighed with some annoyance, wishing that Maki dropped the topic so we could actually enjoy this... moment.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you about it… It's just…" She kept her attention on me, I sighed again. "I don't want you to know about my other sides. My failure side." _Or one of many._ I voiced with honesty as I played with my drink straw before I took a sip. _Just forget about it, Maki. Please?_ I tried to tell her that with my mind, knowing well that it wouldn't work.

Maki kept looking at me, like trying to decipher what I said. "I panicked once and I couldn't perform in a concert. I had a piano solo assigned. I pretended to be sick… even though my parents didn't quite believe me." She was the one taking a bite of a cake this time, the sudden story took me a bit by surprise. "I disappointed an entire orchestra, so…"

"But you got over it, you performed again…" I pointed out, knowing it was true. _I know what you are trying to say, Maki, but…_ "It's not the same." _You disappointed an orchestra, not an entire-_

"Of course it's not the same." I had to growl, _she can be so persistent when she wants to_. "It's not like I want to know more I-It's just… that you promised, you know? And… And I feel guilty." She gave me a glare as I flinched a bit at her words, not quite getting Maki's reasons.

"Guilty about-"

"Because you somehow can make me talk about… well, about _me_. And it's unfair that I can't make you talk about _you_ …" She pointed out sharply and I blinked twice in response before I chuckled. _I have been asking her a lot of questions… maybe more than I should._ "D-Don't laugh now! It's not that I care! Wha-Whatever if you don't want to talk-"

She proceeded to stand up with anger and embarrassment and I grabbed her hand to stop her. I gave her a smile. "Hey, I made a promise…" I voiced softly, making her sit down reluctantly. "Just don't… be disappointed at me." _Like most people are…_

"You could never disappoint me, have you seen you?" She scoffed, not hiding a little smile. "You are annoyingly amazing." Her honesty made my heart skip a beat. _Maki... you have no idea of how your words affect me, don't you?_

I gave her an unamused look, even though I knew I was a bit flustered by Maki's words. "Have _you_ seen you?" I tried to joke back, giggling a bit. _I guess I am losing this battle…_ "There's no going back after I tell you…" I warned her as I inspected her face.

She chuckled. "What do you mean by that?" _I might be too ashamed to look at you after I do._ "You did not murder anyone… did you?" She sipped as I blinked before I contained a smile, _that humor of hers._

"Not that I know off…" Maki chuckled in response and I did the same but more nervously. Then I trailed off, not knowing where to start.

"Sorry… am I being too pushy?" Maki looked away awkwardly. "I'm just curious about you, but if you rather not talk about it that's…" I kept looking at her, she seemed to be debating with herself. "Actually. Most of the time when you _don't_ want to talk about something is because you _need_ to, you know?" She locked her eyes with mine with these mature vibe she projected sometimes. I sighed in defeat, _there are so many other things I would rather talk with you about, Maki…_

The redhead was silent, like a strategist waiting for their turn. My eyes meet with Maki's and they somehow gave me the courage to talk, _let's get this over with._ "Well… it's quite simple." She leaned closer to the table, it made me blush. _Why are you so eager to know about something I hate about me, hmm?_ I sighed, giving up entirely this time. "Ballet was something I loved, enjoyed… and I was fairly good at, or that's what people said. I started when I was… well, I always remember doing ballet, so I started fairly young, just like my Grandma and..." _My mother._ I continued in my head, not able to voice it out loud. "I danced all the time. Seriously, _all_ the time." I had to grin bitterly, on the other side of the table I notice Maki's smile was genuine. "I took classes on various genres and I _loved_ it all, but ballet was the one that stuck with me. It was in my family tradition, after all." I took a deep breath, trying to organize my thoughts before I continued. "I grew older and started to get even better and better, getting into national tournaments. Having a personal trainer, manager, traveling and even some sponsors from my grandma's town though. I was still very young. I wanted to win it all so badly, get the best ranks and I did do it for a while…" I gave Maki a look, she kept her full attention on me. I had to look away, still irritated with myself. "Until… everything was bigger than me. When everyone, including myself, expected too much and way too fast. To the point I…" I had to shudder my shoulders, _this happened so long ago, I shouldn't let it still get to me and much less in front of Maki_. "I broke myself. I failed, more than once. I went from the top to the very bottom." I pulled the straw out of my glass only to throw it in like it was a projectile. _Just like that._ "It was so quick… and I was _so_ unhappy." I took a sip, _yes, Maki. I did give up on my dream so easily._ "So after a couple talks, I finally decided to quit _everything_." _And by everything I meant a lot more things other than ballet._ Maki seemed a bit speechless or maybe she was just giving me her full attention, it made me nervous. "And that's what I did. It wasn't worth it." _I wasn't worth it,_ I corrected myself in my mind. I knew Maki was nice and caring even though she hides herself under various walls and layers, but… _this is just the beginning of how much of a disappointment I am._ "That's it, that's the story…" _Or most of it._ "Of how lame I am." I chuckled bitterly.

"Or how strong you are." I flinched at Maki's words, not expecting her to talk so soon. "I think you don't give yourself nearly enough credit, I mean… going to nationals? Fighting for your own dreams and working to make them happen? Most people are not brave enough to even try." She gave me a little smile, tilting her head tenderly. _That adorable gesture of hers_ … I looked away. _Don't go soft on me, I don't deserve it._

"But I was a disappointment, I gave up when-"

"No. I think you realized you were not doing what your heart truly wanted anymore." She moved her face to get my attention, locking her eyes with mine. "But you still gave all you got-"

"It wasn't enough, though." I had to look away, still ashamed. _How can't you see it? I'm a failure._

"Ah, of course. What you do for other's sake never feels like it's enough." I inspected the girl in front of me. _She can be so mature and perceptive sometimes…_

"And I think you are confusing your past situation with mine." I tried to smile at her. " _You_ realized that, but you didn't stop doing what you loved. I was doing what I truly... wanted, but I still failed miserably, I was too weak to even keep going." _What my heart truly wanted…_ Maki grabbed her own chin pensively. _I failed to not only my heart but to myself and many others._

"Did you stopped?" Maki asked suddenly. "Doing what you loved?" I moved on my chair, not liking where the conversation was heading. "Sometimes… circumstances pressure us to turn what we love into something… into something we don't. It happened to me, you know that story." Maki chuckled a bit.

"I don't love dancing, though… Not like you love music." She furrowed an eyebrow. "I'm not a _dancer_ anymore." I said in a voiced that didn't seemed like it belonged to me. _I don't deserve that tittle_.

Maki sighed with some exasperation this time. "Sometimes I forget how stubborn you can be…" She gave me an intense look. "You are too hard on yourself. I think you are confusing your dream, or _others dream_ , with your _love_ to dance. That love is still there, I see it in the way you smile when you dance." Maki gave me one of the sweetest smiles. I realized in that moment that I was already feeling emotional. I cleared my throat a bit to stop it from getting worse. "Don't keep punishing yourself for something that's in the past." _You… you never cease to amaze me, Maki._ I looked down to the table and I had to clench my fist. _I felt angry with myself, just like it happened every time I talked about my past. My life here is different, why do I even need to talk about that? Is bad enough that it happened, why other people can't just drop the towel on it like I did?_

"I am only dancing now because the group needed it, and the school…" I took another sip, containing my frustration.

"Well, usually when something makes you smile… you love that _something._ As much as you don't want to admit it." She shuddered and grinned. "Trust me, I've been there…" Maki crossed her arms and snorted. "Ugh, you are making me… say this embarrassing things and I hate it, but… the more I know you, the more amazing I think you are, Eli." The words took my breath away and I felt my eyes watering so I closed them. _How can you say that? After… like…_ "Don't let anything inside you tell you otherwise-"

"You wouldn't say that if you knew the messy things I did after I quit ballet… but that doesn't matter anymore." I voiced a bit harshly, closing my eyes and placing my hands on the table as I stood up. "We should keep going…" I voiced sharply when I composed myself. Maki seemed about to argue. "I don't want to leave Arisa alone all night, you know? And the store must be about to close." The redhead looked around, there was no one else except us and the people that worked here.

"R-Right…" She muttered as she stood up. We walked in an awkward silence. _See? This is exactly what I didn't wanted._ "Can I ask you to do something for me?" Maki asked shyly, it seemed weird… _what does she need?_

"Sure, anything. Especially after I made you buy me a cake and listen to my... silliness." I tried to joke even though my voice sounded off, I saw in her eyes that she noticed I was pretending to be alright, she still smiled at me. _I just hope you forget all this tomorrow… unlikely, I know. But I will do my best to pretend this chat didn't happen so eventually you can forget about it too._

"A-Anyway, what I want you to do is to not be so harsh with yourself. You are one of the best people I know…" Maki looked away, she was as red as a tomato… "A-Also, I decided you are not walking _me_ home today. I am walking _you_ home today instead." She said that and kept walking, we were not that far away from my building entrance already.

"W-What if I refuse?" I had to stutter, catching up to Maki.

"I can be more stubborn than you." The redhead voiced matter of factly. I wanted to argue with her for more than just 'walking me home'… I was frustrated. But I didn't wanted to take it on her, _this is all on me._ I felt so lost right now, so ashamed… like I didn't have any control of the situation from now on. I gave Maki all my cards and weaknesses… ' _The more I know you, the more amazing I think you are', how can you say that, Maki? How can she… even like me? At that moment I remembered how somedays I had these bad thoughts of things I have that I probably don't deserve… Maki right now felt like one of those._ "D-Do you need a hug or something?" I blushed intensively as I saw how embarrassed but also worried Maki looked, we were already in front of my building entrance and I was spacing out. "B-Because if you do-"

"N-No. It's fine…" I lied shamefully, looking away from her. _I don't even want you to look at me right now._

"A-Alright. I'll leave you, then. I don't want Arisa-chan to stay alone for this long…" I just nodded and Maki seemed to hesitate. I stood there, turning my gaze away from her. "Goodnight, Eli." Maki voiced eventually and I managed to look at her, only to see her give me her best attempt of a smile.

"Goodnight, Maki." I voiced simply, seeing her go… I walked in autopilot to my apartment and I sighed as I closed the door, saying a quick hello to Arisa before heading straight into my room. I looked at my grandma's picture. I felt my throat close now realizing how much I've been containing my tears, probably even when I was still talking to Maki. _I hope she didn't notice… Hope she just never mentions any of this. How weak I actually am on the inside…_

…

 **Maki's POV:**

I couldn't sleep, so I kept looking at the ceiling, my eyes were adjusted to the darkness by now. I was wearing my pajamas and I tried to focus getting some rest… but I couldn't. I couldn't stop thinking about all the things Eli said. _She trusted me enough to talk about it…_ but I just felt like the worst person, like I didn't deserved her trust. _Why couldn't I be more responsive?! I shouldn't have made her talk about something like this if I wasn't ready to be fully supportive and make her feel better! She looked so… sad and angry with herself._ I knew that very well, as much calm as she pretended to be. _I'm so stupid! I should have just hugged her, why am I like this?!_ I growled with frustration… I hated it. I hated that Eli felt that way about herself and that she has been feeling like that for so long. _I should have known._ I wasn't expecting a nice story, _I should have known to act like a comforting human being for once!_ I turned around with some anger. ' _I'm not a dancer anyone',_ I remembered Eli's words. _So that is why she didn't liked the comment… that_ and that she feels like she _was_ a star. _Even though she still is a big shining star. She can light up any room without even trying!_ I want her to see that we are much more than our failures. _She is so much more than any of that…_

/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

After a long night of scolding myself… eventually, I managed to get some sleep. But I was very drowsy as I walked towards the school, _and angered with myself_ … I thought with my arms crossed when a yawn escaped from me… _W-wait-I-Is that… Eli?_ I flinched as I closed my mouth with surprise, I pushed my cowardice away as I rushed towards the blonde. "E-Eli! Good morning…" I expected her to not even look at me for being such an awful friend.

"Ah, Maki. Good morning!" She voiced cheerfully as she gave me a smile. I was confused, to say the least. "How are you?" It's not like I expected her to be angry, even if part of me wanted her to be. _I don't deserve that smile you are giving me…_

"I am… good. And… sorry? For our talk yesterday? I shouldn't have pressed you-"

"Huh? You don't have to be sorry, Maki." She shook her hand. "It was a good talk, besides… I promised, didn't I?" I saw something else through that smile. She wasn't being genuine. "I don't want you to think I break my promises." She laughed nervously at me and I felt my face leaning back, _she is acting like…_

"Okay, but-"

"Elicchi! Shouldn't we get the decorations ready for Nicocchi?" Nozomi surprised me. "Oh, good morning Maki-chan!"

"Oh, right!" Eli voiced like she was just saved by the bell. "Remember to talk to your friends of the broadcast club to get the stage set up, Maki!" She voiced as both ran away. I furrowed an eyebrow… _how can she act so cheerfully after last night? I… she was almost crying and I didn't do anything! She is…_ I was using everything in my brain to understand what was happening. _She is not being honest! Not with herself or with me!_

…

If there was a day in which I absolutely _hated_ this stupid cleaning duty, it was today. I wanted to get it over quickly so I could help the others and talk to that… _stupid Eli, why do you have to act like this?_ I had to growl at the thought.

"You should talk to her…" I could hear Hana whisper towards Fuyumi.

"You are closer to her-"

"I can hear what you two are saying, you know?" I gave them a glare as they flinched. I rolled my eyes and continued to work.

"If you need to talk about something-"

"No, I don't." I knew I cut Hana off kind of harshly, I sighed feeling a bit guilty.

"Hey, don't treat Hana-chan like that-"

"I'm done here. I just have too much to do today…" I voiced walking away as I finished my part of the work.

…

The eight of us had different task right now, getting things ready with barely enough time. Honoka was looking for Nico's siblings while Umi, Kotori, Hanayo and Rin prepared the scenario. Eli and Nozomi were choosing Nico's outfit… but I couldn't focus. I kept my arms crossed at them and the only thing I could do was watch Eli. _How are you so good at pretending?_

"What do you think about this one, Maki-chan?" Nozomi asked, pulling me away from my own thoughts… showing me a pink dress.

"I-It looks good…" I voiced and Eli nodded to reassure the decision, Nozomi smiled as she entered the dressing room to leave everything ready for Nico.

"C-Can we talk later?" I whispered towards Eli, she gave me a confused look. _I want to make things right… even though it seems a bit late now._

"Is something wrong?" She asked simply and I hated how easily she could put on a happy mask.

"N-Not really-"

"Maki! I thought you needed some equipment? The mica and all that fun stuff." I turned around to see Hana with Fuyumi just behind her. _Right! I forgot!_ I glanced at Eli, she just giggled with a weird expression.

"You seem distracted, go get things ready…" I wanted to snort at Eli's words but I stormed towards Hana instead, it was almost time to get Nico and her siblings here anyway. _Ugh, she is so-_

"Come on, Maki… you are slow today, huh?" Hana teased and I rolled my eyes with annoyance.

"I am not…" I voiced and I had to look away at the reassuring smile my classmate gave me, then I felt guilty. _I also need to apologize to Hana for how I snapped before… why can't I interact like a normal person? What is even wrong with me?_ "Hey... Hana?"

...

 **Eli's POV:**

I watched Maki go as I crossed my arms. "What?" Hana asked Maki, she kept smiling at the redhead, she was certainly trying to cheer her up, _it's so obvious_. I couldn't hear anything else. _That girl is doing that while I... just cause Maki distress._ I shook my head, _that doesn't matter, well... it does, of course it does! But what is urgent is that I need to do a better job reassuring Maki that everything is alright… because it is! Just give me some time to forget it all again…_ I rubbed one of my temples with the tip of my fingers. _She is way too stubborn sometimes._

"Hmm? Afraid of some competition, Elicchi?" I closed my eyes with frustration. _Not now, Nozomi._

"I don't know what are you talking about." I turned on my heels and started to walk away. "We should go help the others at the roof." I left a puzzled Nozomi behind, she was the only person I've talked about my past… _and I only did it once or twice. But Nozomi is not as stubborn as her…_ She listened and listened, then she just let me know how she was going to _always_ be there for me and gave me space to let it all slip away. I loved Nozomi for that. _But Maki, on the other hand…_ I sighed, I adored how persistent and stubborn she could be sometimes, but this wasn't one of those times.

…

Nico's concert went just as planned. It made me smile wide seeing Nico like this. _She must feel very proud,_ I thought when she hugged her siblings. _She is the heart of the group, after all._ I like to think that Honoka is the soul, Nico the heart and Nozomi the brain of the Muse's, without them our school would be closed right now. I felt certain eyes on me… some violet ones. _There's something I still need to resolve, though. Or avoid._

"Goodbye, everyone!" Honoka voiced as she waved, leaving the others behind. We all separated eventually, and now there was only Nozomi, Maki and I. I kept my distance from the redhead.

"Oh, I forgot… I'm staying at Nozomi's tonight, Maki. But you have to get to the hospital, right?" I said even though I couldn't quite recognize my voice, it felt so fake. _And the least I want is for you to walk alone, but…_

"Yeah." I flinched, noticing the shift in Maki's tone of voice. Part of me wanted her to stay angry at me… the other part of me was hurting. _It's for the best._

"Hmm… are you two alright?" Nozomi asked, looking more directly at me.

"Yeah, why wouldn't be?" Maki said harshly with her gaze fully on me, I just looked away. "I'll take this shortcut. Bye." She simply said and just like that, she left… I stood there looking at her.

"Elicchi?" Nozomi asked. She didn't have to say much else for me to understand that question meant more.

"It's fine, Nozomi." I sighed before turning around on my heels, holding my desire to run towards Maki and ask her to leave me be, that my stupidity will pass… that I'll always have a messy side inside me. _As much as I fool other people, and even myself sometimes. It's always going to be there, haunting me._ "I'm dealing with it. Let's just go study…" _Maybe this is for the best... if I avoid her enough, maybe she will hate me and... and stop liking her might be a bit easier._ The thought was... more than painful.

"If you say so…"

…

 **Maki's POV:**

 _I'm going to fix things up, Eli. Whether you want me to or not… You can be stubborn, but I can be a hundred times more stubborn than you! I just need to figure out exactly what to say or do-_

"Dear, you haven't touched your dinner…" I flinched, realizing I got lost in my own thoughts. My mom smiled at me.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" My father asked me this time. It was unusual that the three of our schedules matched to eat dinner together. But I was not in the mood today… for anything.

"Y-Yeah… I was just thinking." I proceeded to eat, not wanting them to worry.

"Hmm." She voiced, standing up to leave her plate. "You know you can always talk to us, right?" My parents exchanged some looks and I growled internally, _great, I just won another we-love-you intervention._ Not that I didn't liked it, but… "We are here for you." She wrapped an arm around me in a hug, making me blush with embarrassment.

"I-I know that, mom…"

"It never hurts to remind you." My dad voiced with a smirk as he ruffled my hair a bit. He liked to do that when I was a kid while we were at home and I didn't had to look _perfect._ I felt warm and happy when he did that, like I was a child again.

"Sometimes you actually need to _show_ how much you care, honey. We know both of us get... busy a lot, that's why we have to take these chances with you." My mom gave me a quick smile as she hugged me tighter, making me flush with embarrassment. "It's also delightful to see you all flustered-"

"Mom!" I voiced full of embarrassment. _Actually show that I care, huh_? That was… true.

"Now, what tea are we drinking tonight, hmm?" I rolled my eyes at her as she inspected her precious tea collection.

"I've been planing our little vacations for december." My dad whispered to me as in to cheer me up. "It's going to be fun!" I had to chuckle at him as my mom came back with tea.

I couldn't contain a smile as I took a sip- "Mom!" I frowned while sticking my tongue out, it was too bitter. "What is this?"

"Oh... I think I gave you mine, sorry dear." She giggled exchanging our cups. I had to snort with a little smile as I drank the only tea I actually liked. _Actually show how much I care... it's something so simple, but i'm so bad at it._ I placed the cup on the table with determination _. I'm so going to fix this!_

/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

 **Eli's POV:**

I sighed, pretending to watch some tv with Arisa… she loved her shows and she was the one who always decided what to watch. I didn't cared, I just enjoyed the time with her... but I've been failing pretend to be fine with Maki, which caused me to blatantly avoid the redhead and I hated it.

"Onee-chan are you okay?" I didn't notice Arisa looking at me over her shoulder. "You look... sad." I straightened a bit.

"What? I'm just a bit tired! Look! It's about to start!" I almost chuckled at Arisa's little jump as she turned her gaze towards the tv. Then I looked away, containing another sigh. _Another day… another walk home with Maki I avoid._ I rested my chin on my knee. _I hope she doesn't hate me that much… I don't think I can handle that well but..._ I just can't look at her yet. _I know I'm being stupid, but I can't help it... and I miss her... why do I have to feel so many things at the same time?_ I contained a growl as I looked down, resting my forehead on the palms of my hands.

I heard my phone ring. _Huh? I-It's… Maki?_ I gulped, debating... I sighed. "H-Hello?" I hesitated, I knew the redhead wasn't fond of actually calling other people unless it was necessary.

"Eli? Are you Home?" She simply asked.

"Uhm, yes-"

"Can you go down? I'm at your entrance." I opened my eyes wide. "I'll wait for you." She said and hanged up before I could even open my mouth.

...

I had to take a deep breath as I entered the elevator, trying to calm my own nerves. _But…_ I placed my hands in my sweater pockets as I walked outside… The entrance is not far away so it doesn't take long for me to see Maki. She had her hands her hoodie too, something she did often… _I should apologize to her. This is not her fault._

"Hey, Maki… how are you?" I gave her the widest smile I could.

"Stop it…" She mumbled with frustration, making me blink.

"W-What-"

"Stop... acting like this!" She said in a contained outburst as she looked directly into my eyes catching me off guard. I scoffed bitterly, but I kept calm. At least on the outside.

"You are the one who should drop this-"

"You think I'm going to let you bottle it up?" I flinched, not expecting Maki to act like this. She scoffed this time. "Like you would let me do that-"

"If you could only give me a few days to forget about it again, I-"

"Why?" I looked down to the floor, I could notice sideways that Maki had her arms crossed stubbornly. _She makes this so hard!_ "I just... I'm so…" I gulped, not knowing what to do at all… I had to look away. _Just leave me alone…_

I sighed loudly. "I understand that you are angry at me… This isn't even about you, this is just the good old me not being good at dealing with my own problems-"

Maki growled looking away, but she seemed angry at herself and not me this time. "You are so frustrating! Forget it... I came here to show that I care... not this-" She suddenly turned her gaze towards me. Her eyes were so intense I almost took a step back, but those violet orbs hypnotised me. I didn't know what she was going to do now. I couldn't tell. "Stop it. And stay still." She cut me off as I… I opened my eyes wide as… as Maki hugged me. I had to blink more than ever to believe what was happening. "Don't be so stupid, Eli… I am… sorry for making you uncomfortable. I didn't mean to push you and make you feel bad about yourself… and for not being able to make you feel better, I-I guess you are better at helping with other people's stuff than me… so I'm not so sure about what to do. I'm sorry I didn't do enough to make you feel better…" I was at loss of words. What Maki was doing… it meant a lot, especially coming from her. But it wasn't fair for her... _this is my fault, not yours!_

"M-Maki…" Was the only thing that came out of my mouth. _We had our talks before but this… this felt too personal, too touching…_ "I am the one who should apologize! Y-You did good, you were amazing and supportive, I was the one-"

"No I wasn't. But I'm not sorry for making you talk about it…" She interrupted my words softly. "I know that I need to be better at… talking in general." She hugged me tightly, making my arms get closer to my body as my eyes watered. "I am just doing this because! Be-Because you need to forgive yourself. What happened in your past doesn't represent you right now. It's in the past, it doesn't matter now." I inhaled, feeling too overwhelmed suddenly. The only thing that stopped me from leaving so I could hide was that I knew Maki. And she was going against all her instincts just to try to make me feel better. "It took me a lot to stop torturing myself about my failures too, even if yours seem like a bigger burden... in fact, I still do it sometimes. Don't do the same… you don't deserve it, you don't deserve to suffer. You are a great person… and no one is going to judge you, at least not me…" I gulped, unable to stop myself from burring my face on Maki's shoulder. "W-What I am trying to say is that… I want to show you that I am here for you…" I had to bite my lower lip. "And I won't let you push me away. Because _you_ would never ever let me do that. And I _hate_ losing to you." I couldn't contain a little smile. " _Specially_ at being stubborn."

I had to chuckle a bit, I could picture Maki's smirk right now. "I'm so…" Words didn't come out of my mouth. _So sorry._

"Even if you _did_ murder someone by accident… in that case…" She paused and I knew she was just trying to lighten the mood by now. "I'll help you bury the body." I felt her shook her head on my shoulder. "W-Well, if it was a long time ago, it would be just bones but… am I talking nonsense? I-It's a joke, just in case… maybe it was a bit dark, remember that I told you I liked horror movies?" I had to contain a chuckle as a couple tears fell down. I felt so moved by Maki's words and actions. I finally managed to make my body react so I took my hands out of my pockets, making the redhead flinch and pull away from me. "S-Sorry that hug was too long, right? I need to get better at timing-" She looked at me and she panicked. "W-Why are you crying-"

"I just wanted to hug you back, silly…" I said more helplessly than I intended… and that's what I did, wrapping my arms around her… this time she was the one not expecting it. "And I am not crying… and even I were, get used to it because I can be a crybaby sometimes." _You are definitely something else, Maki._ "And thank you."

"Y-You don't need to thank me…" She wrapped her arms around me, a bit awkwardly but she did. "Just promise me that you are not going to be _so_ hard on yourself? S-So we can't end this sentimental thing that I hate!" I chuckled.

"That's a funny question, coming from you." I felt so… calm. And safe in her arms. _She smells so good._

She ignored my tease and continued. "Like, I would rather you to punch me or something than avoid me like that… you idiot." She finished with some harshness in her voice but I knew her enough to know she was joking, so I laughed.

"Sorry, sorry." I had to take a deep breath. "I thought you would be mad at me…"

"Oh, trust me, I was mad. But I was more worried about you than mad, so… here we are." I chuckled, not believing how lucky I was to have Maki here. "That's what friends do, right?" She tilted her head adorably as she finally pulled back away, probably too embarrassed.

"Right." _Friends. Nothing more, and I am…._ "I'm lucky to have you as a friend."

"Not that I am an expert at this 'friend' thing, though…" She voiced looking away, curling her hair.

"You are a _really_ good friend and person. Never doubt that, Maki." I said with a genuine smile. I was touched by Maki, more than ever.

"I-I am just doing it because the Muse's would be ruined if you start avoiding everyone suddenly!" She blushed with embarrassment. "I-I'm joking!" I giggled, amused by the inner argument Maki had with herself. She growled. "Ugh, I'm so bad at this..."

"I know when you are joking..." _I know when you say things that you don't meant to._

"Y-Yeah… just don't get used to me doing and saying things so embarrassingly… I won't do it again." She muttered, looking away and crossing her arms. "It's awful…" I just nodded silently. "A-Also…" She eventually continued. "Let's not do this _ever_ again." She repeated like she wasn't clear enough before.

I had to chuckle, _maybe it was too much and I actually broke Maki._ Her face was as red as her hair. "I tend to give long hugs. Might be another thing you didn't know about me…" She looked away with a flush. "Honestly, this… means a lot to me, Maki. I know I shouldn't have turned this into a big deal but… I have that bad habit. So... Thank you." I gave her the best smile I could manage as she sighed.

"You need to work on that bad habit." I had to bite my lip to contain a chuckle as Maki shuddered. "Are we okay then? Is the awkwardness over? Can I make fun about you admitting that you are a crybaby?" She smirked and I did the same in response.

"Me? I don't know where you heard that…" We giggled together a bit and i felt lighter suddendly. "What about you, being so soft and caring? Giving hugs and pep talks? Where did you learn that?"

Maki inflated her cheeks with embarrassment and anger. "You went too far." I couldn't stop a chuckle. She turned her face away from me, her arms still crossed. "So I'm just leaving. I am not even saying goodbye." She turned around like she didn't care, I knew Maki well enough now to know how much she struggled to do all this, _and_ _this is probably as much embarrassment as she can take for a day_. I looked at her go, _she makes me so… happy._ I notice the redhead did give me a wave with her hand.

"Waving is still saying goodbye!" I voiced out loud with a smile, still shocked by all that just happened.

"No, it's not!" She yelled in response, I giggled with an unexpected joy. I stood there, my mind still half-blank from the encounter. But I felt genuine joy. _Maki… you never, ever cease to amaze me. And there's no way to go back now, right?_ I had to bite my lip. _I really, really... like you, each day you make it harder to deny it._

/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

 **Maki's POV:**

As much as I hated how nervous I felt when I went to talk with Eli that night… I was glad I had that I managed to get the courage to do so. It took a few days but things were back to normal with the Muse's and Eli… _or better than normal, I might say._ Everything was alright, _too alright…_ so I was starting to get the feeling that something _bad_ was going to happen. Even Eli noticed one day and tried to wave my pessimism away. ' _You worry too much'_ she said.

 _But I was right,_ I thought as I sat in the club room. _Things were going too good to be true,_ I sighed as I gave a glance towards the incessant rain outside the school. The second years were on a school trip, so with them gone, Eli and Nozomi had to take care of the student council. These last two days went like that, just Rin, Hanayo, Nico and me… sitting at our club table, looking at the rain… even though we knew it wasn't giving up anytime soon and we would have to practice the four of us inside, just like yesterday.

"It's not fun if it's just the four of us…" Rin pointed out, resting her head on the table.

"We still need to do our best, Rin-chan." Hanayo voiced softly as the door opened. I smiled at Eli and Nozomi as they entered the room.

"That's right. The four of you shouldn't slack off just because we are busy and the second years are away…" I nodded at Eli as she finished talking, _I kind of hoped they could practice with us today. But by the looks of it…_

"More student work today?" I had to ask the two third years. _Again? Just how much work did Honoka leave behind?_

"Elicchi is just working hard so they don't have _that_ much to do when they get back." Nozomi explained and I smiled at the blonde. _Yeah, that sounds like her._

"So that's where this document was…" Eli voiced, grabbing some paper out of one of the shelves. I had to contain a laugh. _Oh, Honoka…_

"What? So it's just us again?" Rin asked with some frustration. I had to agree with Rin's feelings, it wasn't the same… we are not the Muse's when one of us is not there, much less when there's five more not practicing. Besides… _we don't work nearly as hard as we should without Umi and Eli to guide us._

"Yes, and remember we have that event we were invited to on the weekend." I crossed my arms at the blonde's words.

"I still can't believe we were invited to a fashion show… I mean, I get it if it was just Eli and Nozomi, but…" I glanced towards Nico. _Nico-chan and the rest of us don't quite fit in there…_

"What?" Nico asked, giving me an angry glare. I just shrug in response.

"Ah, so Maki-chan sees Elicchi and I as models, huh?" I flinched at Nozomi's words.

"I-I don't!" I blushed intensively as the others giggled.

"Let's not worry about that…" Eli said as she opened the door, ready to leave. "Keep up the good work!" Nozomi walked away with her and closed the door. I sighed, _good work?_

"Well… Since _I_ am the president, shouldn't we continue where we left off?" Nico closed her eyes with a smirk as Hanayo smiled wide, intertwining her own hands with excitement. I sighed, _not again…_

"Y-Yes! We left on the second documentary of Rising Stars-"

"Shouldn't we practice for real?!" I yelled out loud with annoyance. _No more documentaries about school idols, please!_

"You can keep reading your stupid book, Nishikino." Nico voiced, making me roll my eyes while her and Hanayo sat facing the computer. I had to turn my gaze towards Rin. "We will be learning from the masters themselves…"

"We should practice for real, right Rin?" I never expected to be searching for the voice of reason in Rin. But she hesitated yesterday when they talked about watching those idol movies instead of practicing, so I thought she was with me on this.

"I-I… don't know?" I furrowed my eyebrow. "W-We should do what the others want…"

"Yeah, we have time to practice after we watch this!" Nico voiced, hitting play. I sighed, _it's no use._

…

I took a step away from the wall I was leaning into when Eli and Nozomi appeared finally.

"You didn't had to wait for us, Maki." Eli smiled a bit and I shrugged.

"I don't have to go to the hospital so I don't mind.-"

"Or _maybe_ you do like to spend time with us..." Nozomi voiced and i gave her an unamused look, hoping my cheeks didn't breathy me.

"Wrong." I voiced turning around to leave the building, leading the way. Luckily, it wasn't raining now.

"Bye-bye, Maki!" _Huh?_ I turned my gaze towards the voice… It was Hana, waving from one of the windows of the second floor. _Ugh, what is she-_

"Get back to work!" I saw Fuyumi pulling her back in and I had to chuckle at them. _They are so odd..._

"Maki-chan is popular now." Nozomi smirked at me. "She even has fans-"

"Shut up Nozomi!" I voiced with a glare. _Of course she had to use every opportunity to tease me!_ I was blushed with embarrassement until I noticed certain blue eyes on me… Eli had a weird serious look.

"We should go." The blonde suddenly turned on her heels and walked away, her arms crossed.

"He-he…" Nozomi voiced with an amusement that I couldn't quite understand. The two of us followed Eli, eventually catching up to her. I didn't noticed how quiet the blonde was until we separated from Nozomi… the spiritual girl made me talk and talk, so now the silence was too noticeable.

I looked at Eli sideways, feeling like something was wrong. "Hmm-"

"So, how was practice today?" Eli asked me as we walked on our usual route. I gave her a look, _now you talk?_ But she gave me a sweet smile. _It's probably nothing…_

"You know how it went." I answered simply letting her chuckle ease my worries.

"Did they watched those movies? Again?" I nodded but I couldn't contain a smile. Eli had that effect sometimes.

"They are out of control. I-I mean, I try to make them listen to me… but not even Rin, who knows wasting our time is a bad idea, gets on my side!" I scoffed with frustration. Eli grabbed her chin pensively.

"You know, I was talking with Nozomi and since Honoka is not there to motivate us… maybe we should assign a new leader for now, right?" I looked at her.

"Sure, but… you have been busy lately too, right?" Eli giggled at me.

"Ah, not me… I thought someone else should do it." I flinched, _please don't say me…_ "I thought Rin should." She voiced with a smile and I blinked twice. "Don't you think she could be a great leader? If she didn't held herself back most of the time…"

I looked down to the floor, giving it some thought. "Actually, now that you mention it… You are totally right." I glanced at her with a smirk. "Which is not usual." She furrowed an eyebrow and I smirked.

"You are never going to admit it, aren't you?" She rolled her eyes jokingly.

"And give you that satisfaction? Not anytime soon." She shook her head in disapproval before we laughed. _I get embarrassed each time I remember how I hugged her… but I was, in fact, glad I talked to her in the end._ Even thought each time I remembered that day, I couldn't stop a blush.

/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/

We had a little meeting in our classroom especially to convince Rin to be our designated leader for now. It took a little persuasion to make the girl give up and accept the challenge, _or a few encouraging words from Eli, I should say._

"Oh, Elicchi with her handholding and speeches can convince anyone to do anything…" Nozomi voiced to herself as she watched the blonde walk away. I giggled at her.

"Yeah, she tends to have that effect on people." I looked at the golden ponytail… before I realized. "H-Huh…" Nozomi gave me a huge smirk. "W-What? S-She does!" I blushed, _I shouldn't have said that out loud..._

She closed her eyes. "I didn't say anything, Maki-chan. I'm glad you two are okay now." I opened my mouth, not sure of what to say. "You seem more… mature, you know?" She said that enigmatically before walking away. I furrowed an eyebrow, _what is it with her now?_ I sighed.

…

I was back at home after a long and not so productive practice today sighing with frustration as I finished playing a song on my piano… I was distracted, I couldn't stop thinking about Rin's and Hanayo's words. _Rin… doesn't feel confident enough to lead us,_ that was pretty clear after the talk we had on our way out of school today _. Only because some stupid kids messed with her when she was little…_ I crossed my arms with anger. _How can I even help her?_ I rolled around the seat, leaning back and resting on the bench of my piano as I looked up to the ceiling. _What can we do for her?_ My phone vibrated at that moment, I expected it to happen sooner or later.

"Hey, Eli." I said simply as I answered the phone.

"What's with that sad tone?" I rested one of my palms on my stomach.

"I'm just worried about Rin… I never noticed she felt so… unconfident with herself." I heard Eli sigh through the phone.

"I might have an idea to help with that… it might be pushing her too much but it might work. Since the second years are not performing with us this weekend-"

"W-What?" I sat up straight. "Why?"

"There's a storm there and they can't get on their flights in time… it's going to be just the six of us." I sighed loudly, _what kind of luck we have lately?_ "But you shouldn't worry, we can make it work!"

"And what's your plan exactly to help Rin out?"

"Easy… I'll tell her that she should be the center." I blinked twice.

"Y-You think is a good idea?" I asked, unsure about it.

"I don't know… we will see how it goes. They also sent the costumes they want us to wear, that's why I want Rin to be the center. So she can see how special she is." I smiled at Eli's words.

"Eh… I'm not sure it will work but… it doesn't hurt to try-"

"Come on have some faith in my own ideas!" I giggled as I stood up.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll try… So, how much work Honoka left to you?" I made a mental note to scold the second year for making Eli and Nozomi work so hard for her.

"Oh, not much! I just want to do some paperwork for them in advance, they have been working so hard lately…" I sighed, knowing there's nothing I could say to stop Eli now. I suddenly remembered one of the chats I had with Eli on the phone, it felt like a lifetime ago…

"What's 'blyad'?" I asked, knowing I changed the topic drastically. There was a long silence. "Hello?"

"W-Where did you heard that?" Eli muttered, barely audible. I laughed.

"You said that once… I guessed it was a Russian word." I smirked, trying to picture the older girls face right now. "It sounded like you were swearing-"

"T-Then you shouldn't repeat it!" She voiced nervously to my own amusement.

"Why? I look up to you so if you say it, it must be something good… right?" I chuckled as I lie down on my bed.

"I-It's Russian for… a bad word!" I laughed again.

"I see, I see… I thought you were well behaved but I guess I was wrong." I could guess what word it was and I grinned at Eli's sigh of frustration. "It's 'fuck' or something like that isn't-"

She gasped. "Maki!" I had to laugh.

"Ah, so you can swear but I don't?" She sighed with exasperation. "Do you miss it? Russia, I mean?" I asked suddenly, not even thinking before I did.

"Hmm… Not really." _Huh?_ I was not expecting that answer. "I mean, I do miss my grandmother but I really like it here. Why are you asking?"

I shrug even though Eli couldn't see me. "Just curious," I answered simply. "Is it cold there?" I knew it was, but I still asked. It was weird, feeling like I could talk so easily with someone. _Have the Muse's changed me that much in the end? Have I really matured like Nozomi said?_

"Oh, yes. A lot! I do love that, we do live far up north!" I smiled at Eli's excitement. "I don't mean to brag but I am good at snowboarding, you know?" I giggled, _is there anything you cannot do?_

"That sounds a lot like bragging, ice queen-"

"Hey!" She scolded me and we laughed together this time. "The 'ice queen' title fits you more." I rolled my eyes.

"I highly disagree." I pictured Eli having fun in the snow as she was little.

"I need to show you some pictures of my mountain sometime, it's beautiful there." I smiled wide, _I would love that._

" _Your_ mountain?" I asked with amusement.

"Yeah, you don't really know what's cold until you get there and-" Her sentence was cut off by a yawn.

"Oh, sorry… you must be tired, I didn't mean to-"

"I'm not! I'm a big lady, I don't need to sleep early… you, on the other hand-"

"Yeah, just because you swear in Russian now you are a big lady? You are just a baby." I didn't want to stop talking to her, but she must be tired… and in fact so was I. "Before you talk, I am going to be the grown up here and say goodnight."

She chuckled. "Alright, alright, oldie. Goodnight, then." I smirked. "I'll tell you more about my hometown another time."

"Goodnight, Eli." I sat up on my bed with a smile plastered on my face.

"Night, Maki." She didn't end the call… so I did it for her. I sighed, going back to reality and fully hoping Eli's plan to help Rin out works tomorrow.

/-/-/-/-/-/

* * *

/-/-/-/-/-/

I was confused, to say the least… Eli and Nozomi were fixing up the fitting of the center's dress that… _Hanayo_ was currently wearing. _Why did Eli let Rin refuse so easily? She didn't even insist for her to do it! I thought she had a plan…_ I looked at Rin leaving the room. _Ugh, this isn't right…_

…

"What was that?" I asked Nozomi and Eli when we were alone walking outside the school. They gave me a confused look.

"What was _what?_ " Eli asked, even though I know she knows very well what I meant with that question.

"Why did you two leave Rin make Hanayo the center? Shouldn't you have refused or something?" I asked the second question to Eli specifically. "Convince her? Talk to her?"

"Oh, but that's your work, Maki-chan." Nozomi smiled at me with her eyes closed, like she often does. _M-Me?_

"And Hanayo's." Eli continued, giving me a reassuring smile. "If someone can bring her out of her shell… well, that's Hanayo and you." _W-What? But how? I already told Hanayo that this didn't seem right…_

"S-So you are leaving the hard work to the two of us, huh?! Was this the _great_ plan all along?" I complained while they giggled. "Of course it was…" I snorted, crossing my arms. We were close to Eli's home and Nozomi was staying with her tonight.

"Good luck with that!" Nozomi voiced as I gave the two an unamused look.

"You can do it, Maki!" I rolled my eyes at Eli's words.

"You two are useless sometimes!" I voiced turning around, leaving them behind. _How are we supposed to convince Rin? If someone can do it… that's Hanayo, not me._ I sighed, but then I remembered… Rin and I convinced Hanayo once, right? She forgot about her fears and confronted the situation… _and she joined the Muse's._ I blinked in realization. _It's time for us to do the same with her!_

I ran upstairs towards my room as I dialed Hanayo's number. "M-Maki-chan?" She answered.

"Hanayo, we need to do something-"

"I know, I just talked to Honoka-chan…" I smirked. _Rin, I hope you are ready to blossom._

 _/-/-/-/-/-/_

* * *

 _/-/-/-/-/-/_

We were already in the backstage of the fashion show, _Hanayo and I left everything ready. And Rin doesn't suspect a thing._

"They are amazing!" Hanayo exclaimed as she, Rin, Nico and I watched the runway.

"Well, they are models after all…" I said. I never admit my clumsy side but, _I would definitely fall off if I had to walk like them…_

"Rin-chan, we should get ready!" The four of us turned around towards Nozomi's voice. _We do need to start getting dressed, Rin time is coming… huh?_ I furrowed my eyebrow as I saw two women's talking to Eli. _Are they bothering her?_ She seems uncomfortable.

I walked towards her, leaving the others to walk the other way to the dressing room. Eli seemed able to escape just before I got there, she sighed in relief. "What did they wanted?" I watched the two woman's go, not quite trusting them. Eli flinched nervously, surprised I was there.

"Oh, it was nothing, really…" She giggled awkwardly, which was even more suspicious.

"They were bothering you, weren't they?" _Who let them enter here?_

"She was just…" She scratched her cheek. "Asking if I wanted to be a model someday or something." I opened my eyes wide as I saw the business card on her hand.

"W-Well, do you?" I muttered a bit shocked.

"O-Of course not, Maki!" I peeked behind Eli to make sure they were gone. "They were just persistent so I grabbed the card…" She sighed, I had to look at Eli from head to toe. _I do see what they look in her._ "It's embarrassing, isn't it?" I flinched, _I-I wasn't... I didn't meant to-_

"W-We should go get ready, sheesh!" I turned around with embarrassment. _Ugh…_

…

Hanayo and I exchanged some looks as we waited for our turn to perform, smiling wide. _We were able to make Rin realize her and only her could be the center tonight…_ I looked at Eli and she gave me a thumbs up and moved her lips without saying anything. _Harasho?_ I guessed, giggling at her silliness, I guess you were right.

"Let's do it, nya!" Rin whispered wearing _her_ beautiful dress. She was there, ready to lead the way.

"Good job." I hear Eli whisper next to me. "I told you it was going to work." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, not thanks to you or Nozomi." I didn't notice when Eli started to fix my bow tie. "H-Hey-"

"Sorry, it was a bit loosen." She smiled widely at me and I blushed, looking away from her. "It _suits_ you." I had to cover my face with secondhand embarrassment while Eli chuckled at her own joke. "Sorry-"

"Another career change? a Comedian now?" She smiled at me and I rolled my eyes, even though I was unable to keep my lips from grinning at Eli's silliness.

…

Everyone clapped at us backstage when we finished our performance. _At Rin, I should say… she was the true idol of the night._ I smiled, seeing how she and Hanayo hugged. I sigh with relief, glad that everything worked out in the end, but… _wait? Where's Eli?_ I turn around, looking for her… I had to inflate my cheeks with anger when I saw who I guessed was _another_ agent talking to her, _Eli is just too polite to actually tell them to go away!_ I saw how the women took a step back to give a better look at Eli from other angles and _really_ checking her out as the blonde still muttered something nervously.

I stormed towards Eli. "I-I don't think I'm cut off for that…" Eli voiced softly, shaking her hands, she didn't notice I was right behind her with my arms crossed.

"Ah, but you would look so good with-"

"She said no, don't make her repeat herself." The agent and Eli flinched at my sudden blunt words. The woman inspected me from head to toe, making me furrow an eyebrow slightly but keeping a stern face.

"I-It's alright, Maki…" Eli whispered, trying to calm me down.

"You might have to wait a few years to try your luck in the runway, your posture needs some work." The woman pointed out, making me frown even more.

"W-What did you just said-"

"T-Thank you!" Eli covered me with her own body, placing a hand on my hip, not sure if protectively or to just to stop me. Or both. "I'll think about it!" She grabbed the business card, which was enough for the agent to smile.

"Don't waste too much time thinking, sugar." The agent gave Eli a wink and left.

"Hey! Come back here!" I said over Eli's shoulder as the woman walked away. The blonde sighed with relief, turning around to face me.

"Come on, you shouldn't pick up a fight with-"

"She started it, she was annoying you!" I scoffed, crossing my arms and looking away from Eli. I could hear her giggle. _What is wrong with my posture anyways?! And 'sugar'?!_ I had to scoff bitterly.

"Yeah, well… thanks for protecting me, then." I gave her a look, seeing a shy smile on her lips, her cheeks a bit red now.

"I-I wasn't protecting you! I… I don't-I'm leaving!" I stuttered as I turned on my heels, leaving Eli to chuckle by herself. _Ugh, of course she is laughing!_ I was annoyed _and_ embarrassed.

…

"I am glad it all ended up alright, don't you think?" Eli asked me softly as we walked under the light of the moon.

"Yes." I voiced, not looking at her and walking faster than usual.

"Come on…" I ignored her, making her sigh. "Are you really mad at me?" I looked at her sideways, she seemed entertained for some reason.

I closed my eyes. "If you want to be a model now, you should have just said so." Eli chuckled.

"Why does it bother you so much?" _Well, I don't know! Maybe because those 'scouts' were checking every movement you made all night!_

"It doesn't bother me." I said bluntly. _Not really… right? It's not my business…_

"I don't want to model, Maki… I swear." She grabbed my hand to make me look at her. _Ugh, of course… with your blue eyes who is not going to want you to model for them?_

"Well… I would support you if you did." _Eventually._ Eli chuckled again.

"You are acting weird today…" She tilted her head as she looked at me, I blushed for a reason… that reason was the light of the moon, it made Eli shine. I had to growl and look away, taking my hand off hers, her touch... flustered me even more.

"You just need to learn to push people away when they are trying to make you do something you don't want to!" I snapped with frustration, locking my eyes with hers, _I can't be there all the time to do it for you…_

"You are right." She voiced softly as she tenderly fixed a strand of hair on my forehead with one of her sweet smiles. I blushed at her touch, looking away once again. _Am I ever going to get used to all this embarrassing gestures of her?_

"A-Anyway…" We were already in front of my house. "Goodnight." I voiced simply.

"Goodnight, Maki." She smiled, standing there as I opened my house's gate.

"Are you… going to stand there until I'm inside?" She nodded like she was an obedient puppy. I rolled my eyes, hiding my smile from her while I opened the door. I closed it quickly, running to the nearest window… I saw her finally walk away, I shook my head with a smile, _how can she be so carelessly embarrassing sometimes?_ I grabbed the hair strand Eli moved away from my forehead… _I-It's no big deal. She is this caring with everyone…_ I sighed, not knowing what was bothering me. _It's nothing special._

* * *

 **Wow that was long! And posting this on mobile was a nightmare lol hope it was enjoyable... a little question: longer chapters like this are good or meh, too long? I'm having a hard time measuring it. Anyway! hope it was enjoyable, it had a bit of everything. Have a good day if you are reading this :)**


	17. Chapter 17 - All Out

**Keeping the (short) streak of (long) chapters going! ;) ... S** **hould I say sorry for the delay like I always do or... yeah, sorry. I try :(**

* * *

 **All Out**

* * *

 **Eli's POV:**

The second years were able to come back two days after our performance in the fashion show. I smiled at them as Honoka ran towards the three first years, Maki opened her eyes wide in horror while Rin and Hanayo ran towards our leader instead.

"Honoka-chan!" The two first years yelled with excitement.

"Guys!" Honoka pulled the two girls into a big hug. I chuckled a bit, _this is a bit dramatic._ "Rin-chan, you did amazing I heard!" She scratched Rin's head like it was a kitty. "And Hanayo-chan too! I also want to try that new recipe you made!" Honoka hugged them again, wrapping her arms around her necks. "I'm so proud of my kids!" _Kids?_ Nozomi, Kotori and I laughed as Umi just sighed. _She is such a big sister... or a grandma, actually._

Umi took a step towards the girl. "Honoka, you are not their-"

"And where is my third child?" I could see Honoka smirking as Maki flinched, she stopped curling her hair looking away... she flinched nervously, giving Honoka a concerned look. "Hehe."

"Wha-What do you...?" Honoka suddenly ran towards Maki to hug her tight, Maki wasn't quick enough to escape. "Honoka! Are you crazy?!" Maki yelled with her face totally red while she struggled to get off Honoka's arms. "Let me go!"

"Did you behaved? You didn't fight with anyone while I was gone, right _?" Well... she almost did in that fashion show._ I had to chuckle at the memory. Honoka asked all that while still hugging Maki, who seemed shocked and probably more embarrassed than ever. "I want to listen to your piano today!"

"H-Honoka shut up and let me go! Y-You are embarrassing me-" I had to giggle at the scene. _Oh, Maki, like you don't love Honoka._ My gaze trailed off to... someone. My eyes narrowed instantly as I saw Hana from afar, looking at Maki and Honoka with one eyebrow up, irritation visible on her face. I clenched my jaw a bit as I watched her walk away. "E-Eli help me out here!" Maki was looking at me with pleading and panicked eyes as Honoka rubbed her cheek against her shoulder.

"I-"

"I'll take care of it." Umi interrupted me and dragged Honoka from the back of her jacket, Umi seemed really annoyed, _hmm... why-_ I heard Maki sighing with relief, the sound took me out of my spacing out. "But Umi-chan, I missed them!" I grinned at Honoka, _we missed you too._

"You were away for, like five days Honoka!" Maki snorted while she walked towards me and sighed once again. "She is so troublesome..." She said to me while giving Honoka and the others a glance. They were walking towards the school, leaving the two of us behind.

I gave her a teasing smile. "Like you are not troublesome." An idea came to my mind... Maki looked at me, unamused.

"I'm not-"

I shrugged. "Prove it, then." I couldn't contain a smile before I hugged a very surprised Maki.

"E-Eli-What the-" I had to laugh while the redhead sighed and gave up. "Great, now you to." But she... wasn't fighting the hug.

"See? Acting like that is _also_ being troublesome. Besides, you hugged me suddenly once-"

"S-Shut up... just..." Was Maki letting me hug her? She was completely blushed and looking away.

"Just what?" I teased, she gave me a glare. She was as red as a tomato.

"J-Just end this fast there's so much embarrassment I can take for a day! And it's just the morning!" I chuckled at the girl as I let her go.

"Sorry. You are just... very huggable." Maki growled, curling her hair and looking away... luckily, because I felt my cheeks burning from what I just did and said. But I've been wanting to hug her back for a while... I had to look away shyly. "And I told you I like long hug-"

"I know, I remember. That's why I didn't stopped you..." I had to blink twice. "A-Anyway, we will be late!" And just like that she stormed towards the school. "A-Are you coming or not?!" Maki snapped, the blush not leaving her face.

"Y-Yes!" I muttered running towards her. _Maybe Honoka hugged her too tight and... She broke Maki._ I chuckled silently as we walked, the redhead was quiet, still embarrassed and a bit mortified. "It's just hugs Maki, they won't kill you."

She gave me a glare. "You... you don't know that!" Maki stomped towards her classroom. I had to giggle a bit, _she is something else, isn't she?_ I yelped as the bell rang. _Blyad!_

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

 _A Halloween event, huh?_ I thought, grabbing my chin. _We have improved a lot, it could be seen from the events we were getting invited to, but…_

I sighed, knowing Nozomi and Maki would hear me as we walked. "Now that I think about it, I'm not so sure if we should accept the invitation… We are at a disadvantage, If we keep performing with A-rise, they may shadow our-"

"Yeah, maybe." Maki gave me a smirk that took me by surprise, _I… I thought you would agree with me?_ "But it's not like we can just refuse to participate in a Halloween event!" _T-That smile reminds me of-_

"That's right Elicchi! It would make us look bad…" I turned my gaze towards Nozomi this time, _s-same smile._ "Besides, I think we can be spookier than them." I was between the two girls so Nozomi tilted her head to look at Maki as the redhead did the same, then she nodded at Nozomi with excitement. _I knew Nozomi loved Halloween but… it seems like she is not the only one._ I sighed with a silly smile.

"They are too stiff to appreciate this kind of holiday." Maki voiced, shaking her hand. "I mean, can they surprise people? Yes, but the event doesn't resolve about _them,_ it's about the-"

"Onee-chan!" A sudden hug left me breathless. _A-Arisa, one of these days you are going to break one of my ribs…_ I still smiled, petting her head. The younger girl turned her attention towards the other two. "Nozomi-chan, Maki-chan." She smiled at them, Nozomi grinned and Maki looked away with some embarrassment.

"What are you doing here-"

"Oh! I'm not here for long, I'm busy… just came here to…" Arisa proceeded to look for something in her bag, I furrowed an eyebrow, _busy? Since when?_ She pulled a pack of envelopes, taking one and reading a label. "Maki-chan!" Arisa smiled, extending the package to Maki, leaving the redhead puzzled. "And for Nozomi-chan!" She did the same with Nozomi. Arisa nodded, proud of herself as I sighed. "I have to keep going!" _D-Don't tell me... Not again, Arisa…_

"Well, we better go, Nozomi." I voiced with my eyes closed, a bit embarrassed by now.

"Yes, Elicchi. Bye, Maki-chan!" Nozomi followed me as we left a confused Maki behind. I sighed once again. "Like you didn't know Arisa-chan-"

"You know I still don't like it, Nozomi." I voiced a bit harshly, crossing my arms as I felt flustered already.

...

 **Maki's POV:**

"B-Bye…" I muttered eventually, not sure if the third years could hear me by now. _What is this?_ I turned the envelope around, inspecting it… I ripped the blue diamond sticker apart, too curious to know what this was about. _Why would Arisa give something like this to Nozomi and me?_ I furrowed an eyebrow as I proceeded to read. _'The 21 of October you are invited to-' That's next week, and… isn't that Honoka's address? 'For Eli's-"_ I opened my eyes wide, tightening the grip I had on the paper. _IT'S ELI'S BIRTHDAY?!_

 **/-/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

 **Eli's POV:**

 _Hmm, so our stage will be here…_ I reflected, looking at Akiba's map on my phone. I grabbed my chin as I kept walking, it was too early so there were no students heading towards the school just yet. _And we will be one of the last performers. The space is large enough to-huh?_ I felt _someone_ walking past me in a rush, I blinked in disbelief, recognizing that enchanting red hair.

"M-Maki!" I stutter, catching up to her. She did not gave me a look. "Good morning!" I voiced cheerfully, but I recognized _that_ face meant trouble… She gave me a quick look before she crossed her arms.

"Good morning." She responded sharply. I scratched my cheek, feeling nervous…

"Now what did I do?" I asked shyly, not wanting to keep the question just in my head. I saw her eyes shut as she blushed.

"N-Nothing-"

"It doesn't sound like nothing…" I voiced softly, pressing her to talk… I was getting good at it. I got my body closer to hers, brushing our shoulders together, she stormed until she was in front of me, giving me an angry look and making me stop and look at her. "I-I guess I am in trouble?" _I'm not quite sure what did I-_

"Why didn't you told me your birthday was coming up?!" I gulped nervously, looking away. "Look at me!"

"So it's about _that…_ " I scratched my cheek once again, then cleared my throat trying to look serious at her. "Because it's no big deal-"

"Were you waiting for me to forget and tease me about it for the rest of my life or-"

I chuckled. "Oh, it's not that. I tend to forget my own birthday myself… if it wasn't for Arias, that is." She gave me an unamused look, like she wasn't falling for it. "I told you it's no big deal."

She just furrowed an eyebrow at me. "When it's my birthday?" Maki asked suddenly, making me blink once.

"April 19-"

"Ah! You are so frustrating!" Maki howled running her fingers through her hair, certainly irritated. _W-What's up with you-_

"I told you its-"

"Umi's?" She asked, locking her eyes with mine. I sighed, not quite understanding what was wrong with her.

"March 15-"

"And you were the one who reminded me _and_ helped me get Kotori's gift!" She growled and I had to laugh at the memory even though part of me felt nervous because I didn't know where Maki was going with this.

"What's the problem-"

"You! You are the problem!" Maki voiced and stormed away… I stood there at loss of words, watching her go. _W-what got into her now?_

 _..._

 **Maki's POV:**

I rested the nape of my head on our club desk, thinking about our upcoming event as I kept my eyes glued to the ceiling… _Halloween… How are we supposed to make an impact… a bigger one than A-rise?_ They were good with surprises… we could get a bit predictable I guess. I was annoyed, to say the least. _On top of A-rise, Eli is acting like her birthday doesn't matter at all and it's making me so-argh!_

"Where is everyone?! How are we supposed to make some progress if no one is here?!" I voiced in an outburst, surprising Nico a bit, she kept trying to find ideas online.

"Did you know that Halloween started in Europe?" I turned my face towards Nico, we were the only ones here. I gave her an unamused look.

"Not really-"

"I have it!" I sat up straight, surprised by Honoka. She stepped into the club room with a big box, it made me smile nervously, just like Kotori behind her. "I found all we need!" Nico seemed excited, running towards the package.

"What is... this, Honoka?" Nico's smile faded, she furrowed an eyebrow, pulling a skeleton out of the box… _It's that a… doll?_ It was my time to furrow an eyebrow, I had to stand up to have a closer look at the box.

"Honoka-chan found a lot of Halloween themed figures…" Kotori explained and giggled, I looked at a particularly big robot that took my attention. _Robots are not very Halloween themed, though._ "She thinks they could help with inspiration."

"We need to impact eeeveryoneee!" Honoka said with a ghostly voice, grabbing a little pumpkin. I had to contain a chuckle.

"And how can we do that, pumpkin-head?" Nico asked, giving the skeleton a voice this time. The four of us exchanged some looks… we laughed together. I picked up the big robot. _Hello, Kuro-kun._

…

 **Eli's POV:**

 _Where are they? Everyone is on the roof except those four!_ I sighed, _if they are not here I am going to have to use the school speaker to call them out._ I crossed my arms, looking through our club's door window. _Here they are, but… w-what are they doing?_ I saw Maki with a big… _plush?_ Or something like that. I blushed intensively… _are they… playing with some puppets?!_ I had to giggle silently. _They are such a kids!_ I smiled looking at Maki, not quite believing what I was seeing… she seemed entertained. _I love every cute-childish side she has._ I took a deep breath, preparing to give them my serious-student-council-president face.

I opened the door silently, they kept 'acting' without noticing me… "You really think it will give us an advantage later on?" Nico asked in a weird voice, moving her skeleton around.

"Precisely." Maki voiced with such a low tone that almost made squeak and lose my cover. But I kept an unamused face.

"On top of that!" Everyone flinched when I suddenly intervened. "A-rise _did_ beat us last time, didn't they?" I saw Maki avoiding looking at me, still holding the big robot. _You are looking away because I mentioned A-rise or you are still angry at me?_ "This is a serious situation!" I stand up straight, _I have to be the voice of reason! Especially when even Maki is acting like this…_

"Trick or treat-"

"We are at a disadvantage…" I voiced trying to get through them while watching Maki stand up next to me, she hugged the big plushy tighter and I kind of lost it right there. "Cute…" I voiced looking at the robot, _both of them are... so cute._ I felt my cheeks blush slightly as Maki gasped a bit, surprised by my words.

"What should we do, then?" Honoka asked in confusion.

"Easy, get to work in impacting the hearts of others!" Nico voiced, _finally, they are stopping playing around._ "Well, I _do_ that every day but-"

"The others are waiting for us…" I voiced, trying to end the conversation and actually get ourselves back to work, the girls nodded and walked away. I followed them, expecting Maki to walk too… but when I noticed that it wasn't the case, I had to turn around. I opened my eyes wide as I saw her gently place the robot like it was sitting on the chair.

"Bye, Kuro-kun." The redhead gave it a pat on its head before she stood up, walking towards me. "W-What?" She asked closing her arms, slightly embarrassed. _What, you ask?! You are adorable and I can't deal with it!_

"So… you already gave it a name?" She walked past me and I couldn't help but smile.

"Of course I did." I giggled at her, a bit surprised that she didn't deny what I said, _Maki… stop being so cute all the time-_ "You _are_ an October kid, I can't believe you are acting this grumpy when we were just… brainstorming ideas."

I chuckled, _you were having fun, didn't you?_ "I was trying to be the voice of reason here-"

"Well, you are not." She gave me a glare and walked away, leaving me behind. _Again! So she is still mad at-_ "I am still mad at you!" She voiced like she could read my mind.

"And I can't quite grasp why!" I yelled back, scoffing with frustration when I couldn't see her anymore. _I didn't mean to avoid mentioning my birthday..._

…

 **Maki's POV:**

 _How am I supposed to-ugh!_ I snorted with frustration as I tried to untangle the gymnastics ribbon on my wrist. _This is stupid! Dressing as some school clubs doesn't have anything to do with Halloween!_ I growled in defeat, letting the stick fell to the floor even though the ribbon was still attached to my wrist. _And I want to get out of this clothes, they are too tight! Who was this idea again?! I just want to have a chat-_

A laugh distracted me… its Eli, of course it had to be her. "Need some help with that?" She walked towards me.

"No…" I voiced simply but I still let her try to untangle the stupid thing. I just looked at her, Eli gave me a quick look before she continued with her task.

"You look cute…" I saw her cheeks blush and I knew very well I was getting flustered too. _There she is again with that word! Does she even get embarrassed by it? Even if it's just teasing!_

"What's got into you-"

"I could ask the same thing." She interrupted me, looking directly into my eyes. "Aha!" She voiced when she could untangle one of the knots. I gave her an unamused face as she kept trying to untie the thing out… I awkwardly crossed my only free arm, disapprovingly.

"Your birthday is as important as the others you so easily remember…" I pointed out, discreetly inspecting Eli's reaction. She seemed to be able to suppress a flinch. "And since when you let your little sister plan things for you, huh?" _You like planning stuff…_ Eli sighed as she finally got the entire ribbon out. _You are so selfless, Eli…_

"I just let Arisa be, she gets too overexcited…" The blonde rolled her eyes. "I still can't believe she bothered Honoka with _that._ " She voiced with some annoyance, I crossed my arms.

"You try to avoid your own birthday." I pointed out now fully aware of what was going on, she didn't even try to deny it. "Even though is _your_ special day!" Eli didn't even look at me, the floor seemed more interesting now that anything else. _I knew it!_ I scoffed. "You can try to avoid it all you want, but we will _definitely_ make you feel special that day… as much as you don't want to!" I smirked at the silly anger showing in her eyes. _I'll have to figure something out…_ I sighed. "You can be so troublesome-"

"If I am so troublesome, then-"

"And what do you want me to get you as a gift?" I interrupted her, feeling my checks burn and knowing the answer already when she looked away from me.

"Oh… nothing." She blushed and I had to roll my eyes, so predictable!* "S-Seriously, I don't want anything…" She waved her hands, panicking a bit. _Ugh, I want to hit that… nice stupid head of yours sometimes!_ "You should just get changed!" She gave me a smirk and then winked at me. "Not that I'm complaining, it suits you-"

"You. Are. Weird!" I voiced flustered, leaving her alone as I entered the dressing room. _Of course she would say something like that to change the topic! Ugh! She has been saying embarrassing things… even more than usual!_ I took a deep breath... _that wink..._ I felt my cheeks burning even more. "Argh-"

"Are you okay?" I rolled my eyes at Eli's muted voice coming from outside.

"Can I have some privacy for once?" I tilted my head, waiting for an answer.

"But you screamed-"

"I can _definitely_ undress on my own, Eli!" I opened my eyes wide and covered my face. _T-That sounded-_

"I-I know... that you…" I could hear her clearing her throat. "I'll... leave you to it." Even Eli struggled to find a response, I had to growl with utter embarrassment, _why do I have to say stupid things like that? Ugh... why? Just why?_

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

I shook my head, walking in as much silence as I could… trying to forget our continuous failed attempts at finding out a way to impress everyone in the show, _this shouldn't be so hard to accomplish._ I snorted, _I'm not here about that, there's something that needs to be done first…_ I peeked inside the apparently empty classroom. I smirked, _there she is…_ I pushed the door, getting inside the room. I made sure no one followed me and I was sneaky enough for Nozomi not to notice me, she was way too focused on the cards on her desk.

I hide behind a table, took a piece of paper… I folded it neatly into a triangle. I peek into the only other girl in the room, I closed one eye, putting my tongue out to aim at her… _Just, right… There!_ I took the shoot, quickly getting myself back into my hideaway. I know it hit her.

"H-Huh?" I covered my mouth, containing a chuckle. "I-Is this a message?" _Sheesh, Nozomi, not everything is like that…_ I peeked back at her, she seemed even more fixated on her cards now as I prepared another projectile. Ready… Aim… Fire! It flew right towards… I had to laugh out loud this time, messing up with my cover. _It buried itself in Nozomi's hair!_ "M-Maki-chan!" I could hear Nozomi storming towards me. "W-What are you even doing?" I had to clean a tear as I watched the paper sticking out of her hair… I chuckled as she took it out, crossing her arms in disapproval just after she did. It was priceless to see Nozomi like this, slightly flustered. "What are you doing here?" She repeated with an unamused look.

"Annoying you. Like you always do-"

Nozomi furrowed an eyebrow at me. "What are you _really_ doing here?" She knew I wasn't here just to fool around.

"I need your help." I voice simply, standing up as I straightened my skirt. She seemed even more puzzled now and I smirked, _not even your cards saw me coming, huh?_ "I want to go all out for Eli's birthday." I crossed my arms with a proud smirk. Nozomi opened her eyes wide, surprised but smiling widely.

"I see." She grinned like she was fully appreciating my effort. "You also need help with her gift, don't you?" I flinched this time. _This isn't about that! But now that you mention it..._

"N-No…" I muttered, looking away.

"You should directly ask her, you know?"

"I already did but she..." I trailed off as I saw her smirk. _She tricked me!_

"I'll make sure to escape away from her after practice, you should do the same." She gave me a closed-eyed smile as she walked towards the door. "I'll see you next to the alpacas. Don't leave me waiting, Ninja-chan." She winked at me.

"D-Don't say things like-" _Ugh!_ She left… I rolled my eyes, still containing a chuckle because of the interaction.

 **/-/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/-/**

"Ah! Maki-chan this looks amazing!" I sighed, already sore from all this work… I looked down towards Rin and Honoka. _Why am I the only one doing the hard work?!_

"I love it, nya!" Rin voiced excitedly as I walked down the ladder. _Ugh, I wish there were some decorations other than Halloween ones…_ the best I could find were some blue themed Halloween stuff. "You are good at this, huh? Who would have guessed-nya!" Rin yelled in pain when I flicked a finger on her forehead. _I always hit you softly, Rin! Don't be so dramatic._ I grabbed my chin, _okay, everything is done I guess…_ Nico, Kotori, Umi and Hanayo were baking the chocolate cake and others sweets in Honoka's kitchen. Nozomi was eating with Eli and Arisa trying to buy us some time… I looked around me.

"You think she will like it?" I murmured uncertainly, _I'm unsure this is her style…_

"Of course! We look like we are in an ice castle!" Honoka voiced, making me chuckle, _she is an ice queen after all…_ "And Eli-chan likes snow, the blue spider webs look quite similar…" I had to tilt my head to give a better look at the decorations. _I-I guess if you use some imagination…_ it doesn't look _that_ bad.

"Let's go check how the cake is going nya!" Rin ran towards the kitchen, Honoka followed her.

"I'm sure it's delicious, I wonder if I can lick the spoon-"

"Hey! Don't mess with it!" _These two troublesome kids!_

...

 **Eli's POV:**

Finally! I sighed with resignation, we were finally on our way to Honoka's house… _I just want to get this over with._ "You shouldn't have troubled Honoka like this, Arisa." I voiced in a scolding tone.

"Oh, but Honoka-chan was almost as excited as Arisa-chan!" Nozomi said happily, Arisa nodded. "And it will be just a small cake like last year… nothing more." I furrowed an eyebrow at Nozomi.

"Well, I sure hope so…" I mumbled, not so sure about Nozomi's tone. We walked into Honoka's family store, her mom congratulated me and I started to feel a little shy and nervous. Arisa guided us inside, she knew the place better than us. _I-It's no big deal… we will eat cake and then leave. That's all._ I had to frown at the suspicious blue curtain… it wouldn't let us see what was happening in the living room. I closed my eyes with embarrassment.

"You first, Onee-chan." Arisa encouraged me, so I sighed as I moved the blue fabric away. _What's with this…?_ I kept my eyes closed-

"Surprise!" I flinched at everyone's voices.

"I-It's not a surprise if I already knew about… it." I opened my eyes wide. _W-What's all this?_ The entire room was covered in blue, white and... weird? decoration that oddly enough made it look amazing. The table in front of the group of smiling girls was covered with all sort of chocolate stuff. I blushed intensively. _W-Whose idea-_ I turned around, giving Arisa and Nozomi a glare… They gave me a smile but they also glanced around the room with surprise. _So it wasn't only them... Of course._ I thought as I looked at Maki's smirk so I knew she was part of this too. I scoffed, looking away with embarrassment. In fact, to make _all_ this… everyone probably had to help. _W-Why make it such a big-_

"Group hug!" Nozomi yelled so I suddenly was wrapped around a big mass of bodies and hair. I blushed even more.

"Happy Birthday, Eli-chan!" Honoka voiced happily.

"T-Thanks…" Was all I could say.

…

 **Maki's POV:**

I giggled at how embarrassed Eli was before. Now? She was just sitting there, enjoying the puppet show the second years and Nico prepared for her.

"Not so grumpy anymore?" I asked, smirking as I sat next to her, leaning on my elbow… but I wasn't looking precisely at the show. I was just looking at Eli because she seemed happy.

"I am never grumpy…" She voiced lowly before she sipped a drink. "That's you." She gave me a little smile.

"Honoka, your next line!" Nico yelled, followed by some giggles.

"Oh, right… HERE I AM! THE PUMPKIN MONSTER! WHY ARE YOU HERE?" I had to laugh at the faked voice, _they are idiots..._

"They are not bad at this, huh?" Nozomi asked, she was sitting on the other side of Eli. "Nicocchi can be so creative…" She voiced proudly, making me roll my eyes.

"B-But, oh, great pumpkin monster… I need your help!" A little ghost puppet talked with Kotori's voice. "The one true monster is looking for me-"

"I'll stop it, then-"

"I… FOUND YOUUU!" The three of us almost shivered at Umi's scary voice, even though we knew that tone well enough. Also, the... blue which looked very creepy. _Who would have thought Umi would get so much into this silly stuff?_

"Nyaaa!" Rin and Hanayo hugged themselves.

"Y-Yukiho-" Arisa had to hide behind Honoka's sister as Yukiho sighed. I had to contain a laugh at the scene.

…

I couldn't be happier with how the party went. It was safe to say Eli had fun, especially with all the chocolate… _maybe it was too much chocolate, in fact._ I smiled at her as we reached close to her apartment. Eli gave me a quick look before turning her gaze to Arisa. _Ha! Even if you scold me, it was worth it._

"Go wait for me at the apartment, Arisa." The girl nodded happily.

"Bye, Maki-chan!" She proceeded to walk away as I waved at her. I had to look at Eli… she looked so hypnotizing under the light of the moon… I saw her crossing her arms, giving me an I-am-trying-to-stay-mad-at-you-right-now look. I smirked.

"Why did you do that-"

"Here." I voiced simply, taking Eli's gift out of my bag, I extended it to her as we both blushed… I started to curl my hair, looking away. "I-I did not give it that much of a thought! I just asked Nozomi, so if you don't like it blame it on her and not me!" I muttered angrily, way too embarrassed.

Eli seemed touched as she pulled the box closer to her. "M-Maki…" She muttered softly.

"It's not chocolate! I got the ones we- I mean, you already ate too many of it anyway!" My face was burning and Eli just gave me a soft smile. "I-I'll leave you to it!" The entire situation – Eli giving me those eyes, the light on her skin and hair, the embarrassment of giving a gift – was too much for me. I ran away before it could get any worse, not giving Eli time to stop me. _So embarrassing!_

…

I took a deep breath, resting my head on my pillow… I felt my sore muscles giving up on me. _I never knew decorating could be so tiring!_ I closed my eyes, but I couldn't contain a smile… _She looked happy in the end, didn't she?... Huh? My phone?_ I saw Eli's name popping out. I flinched but still answered.

"W-What are you doing?" I voiced the first thing that came to mind, I can't believe I still get like this just from giving a gift. I shook my head, _I should get over this already. I'm not a child anymore._

"Uhm, I'm waiting for my grandma to call?" She answered, sounded confused about the question and I had to cover my face with a hand, _why am I like this?_ "So I thought we could chat in the meantime…"

"I didn't mean it like… Y-You should go, then…" I felt overly nervous about the gift I gave Eli, _what if she hates it?_ I wanted to say bye and end the call, but I couldn't get the courage to do it. "S-So… did you like it? J-Just tell me already!" I asked more shyly and worried than I intended, playing with the blanket on my bed.

"Oh, I haven't opened it yet." I blushed more, blinking with surprise.

"Then why are you calling-"

"I wanted to open it with you but… you ran away so here we are." She laughed a bit while I decided to sit down, resting my chin on my knees, _I like her laugh._ "I also wanted to thank you… I already called the others to do the same." I rolled my eyes with a smile, _of course you would do something like that._

"You don't have to thank us for that!" I scolded her.

"Still…" _You are so…_ "Well, I am going to open it now." I felt my back tensing up, not sure of what to expect. I heard the sound of wrapping paper being teared up… I had to close my eyes. I heard a little gasp. "M-Maki…"

"Y-You don't like it?" _I'm killing Nozomi tomorrow!_

"Of course I do! I-It's amazing but… this set is so expensive-"

"So you _do_ like it?" I asked, unable to hide my relief and excitement. "I-I mean, Nozomi told me you liked to craft your own stuff, so…" I went to the store and choose the best looking box full of all kind of… things? Used to make bracelets, necklaces, crafts or anything else.

"Y-Yes, it's just… it's-"

I had to roll my eyes. "I am not returning it, it was way too heavy to carry around all day… so if you _did_ like it, just say thanks and let's get this over with…" _Enough embarrassment for today._

"I… Thank you… I love it." I felt my chest inflate with happiness.

"N-Next time! You should be more helpful! You know I'm bad at picking up gifts…" I looked away, resting my left cheek on my knee with a stupid smile on my face, _she did like it._ "You could have told me you liked that stuff..." I voiced with some irritation, _what other secrets you hide, Eli?_

"Ah, but you are good at throwing parties-"

"It wasn't my idea!" I had to cut off that teasing tone of hers. "It was Arisa! I just… wanted to help you feel special on your day, so…" I flinched at my own words. "Y-You know what? I don't like where this conversation is going…"

"Special, huh?" She teased, making me flush. "Well, you did a great job-"

"G-Goodnight! I'm sure your grandmother is waiting for you, I don't want her to wait." _It was true._

"Hey-"

"Bye!" So I ended the call, sighing. I'm sure she _is_ excited to talk with her grandmother. She mentions her more than once… I rested my head on the pillow, once again. _But, I can't help but think… what about her parents?_ I turned to my side. I couldn't stop myself from wondering but that seemed like a sensitive topic for the blonde… And she doesn't have to tell me all her personal stuff, anyway. I just... want to be there for her, I guess. I snorted, the Muse's are turning me into _this_?! But I couldn't contain a smile as I remembered Eli grinning and eating her 'harasho! Cake, she did look very happy. So it was all worth it.

…

 **Eli's POV:**

 _Ugh, Maki!_ I covered my face with the pillow… _Why you have to be so adorable all the time? It makes my heart… go like... wild._ _Just wild. She is slowly driving me crazy and she is not even trying anything-"_

"Onee-chan! It's babushka!" I smiled even wider, getting my face out of hiding. _What better way to end the day than talking with my grandma?_ It had to be my favorite birthday so far. I felt so lucky.

…

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

We were having a meeting the day after my birthday. We still had some trouble with the 'impact' we were looking for, _and there's no time to look for another set of costumes._ We need to stay true to ourselves, but still shake things up…

"W-What are we going to do now?" Umi asked helplessly.

"No!" Maki interrupted her, to everyone's surprise. She seemed to be losing her patience about the topic. "I'm done with this! Halloween is simple… we just need to keep being ourselves while getting into _the_ holiday. They just want us to entertain, which means that the only thing we need to do is be-"

"Spooky!" Nozomi completed like she definitely understood where Maki was going.

"Exactly!" I had to chuckle at those two, agreeing on something.

"Harasho…" I voiced to myself.

"T-They do like Halloween, don't they?" Honoka asked nervously.

"N-No…" Maki muttered with embarrassment. I smiled at those two. _Yes, they do._

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

We had the whole performance almost ready, just a few more touches needed to be made with the choreography and we still had a couple days. I smiled, walking towards the music room where Maki and Nozomi would probably be waiting for me… _It is quite the experience to be in the first row, watching Maki compose. As much as it distracted me from actually studying…_ I sighed, _at least Nozomi does find the whole situation amusing._

"E-Eli! Wait!" I turned around, surprised by Maki's voice… she grabbed her knees, catching up her breath.

"W-What's wrong, Maki?" _I thought you were in the music room…_

"I realized something!" I had to open my eyes wide. _W-What is with you,_ she coughed to compose herself. "I thought about changing some beats of the song…" She said while looking at her music sheet. I was even more confused now. "I feel like something is lacking… it needs to be better than our last performance." I had to giggle and give her my best smile, _now what can I say to calm that head of yours?_

"M-Maki?" A voice just behind the redhead surprised both of us. I didn't even notice her...

"Oh, Hana… what is it? Please tell me there are no more cleaning duties today?" Maki chuckled but with a pleading tone. I could see something else in Hana's eyes… she was _very_ blushed, I felt my whole face tensing up.

"N-No, please don't talk about that…" The girl giggled nervously. "Just… wondered-if-we-could-talk?" I blinked twice at how fast she talked.

"Sure? What's going on?" _She is so painfully nervous about talking to you Maki, how can't you see it?_ "Is it about Fuyumi?" I had to roll my eyes, feeling like I shouldn't be there. And I hated it... I hated it so much.

"Erm… yeah! So can we talk later? I'll look for you in the music room, yeah?" I had to contain a growl of annoyance and I couldn't even fake a smile when Hana gave me a quick look. _How dare she! Be so… brave!_

"O-Okay… sure." Maki seemed a bit puzzled by now, but the girl seemed happy enough so she walked away… Maki turned around to face me, like she suddenly remembered what we were talking about. "Anyway, I thought about… hmm, I'm not so sure where, but… Eli?" I flinched, not noticing I kept looking at Hana walking away. The redhead furrowed an eyebrow at me.

"Ah, sorry Maki… Yeah, I'm listening." I gave her a smile.

"What is it?" Maki asked with some concern, I had to scratch my cheek, ignoring her question.

"So… what do you want to change? We need to beat A-rise, after all…" I added, trying to make the redhead forget about my spacing out just now.

"Well… I-I mean, we are supposed to impress everyone so I don't know, if you have any moves to add to the choreography, I could change some beats to accommodate…" I had to smile at her, it made her look away nervously. "You think is a bad idea?"

"I like the music just the way it is… just the way you did it." She started to blush. "It's perfect that way-"

"But-

"I mean it." I voiced with sincerity, giving her a reassuring smile.

"W-Whatever… if you _really_ think so-"

"Yes, I do." I voiced with honesty, smiling at her to try to ease her worry. _We do depend too much on you…_

She sighed with defeat. "Alright, I trust you. We should go, Nozomi must be waiting for us." My lips uplifted shamefully, _she trusts me..._ I flinched a bit, _Oh no, Nozomi is going to tease us about being late, isn't she?_

…

"I'm not trying to say you are wrong, Maki-chan. But you are wrong-"

"Listen! If the sauce already has tomatoes, it only makes sense to add them as a topping-"

"You said it yourself, it _already_ has tomatoes, why add more?" I had to chuckle at Maki and Nozomi's argument. _How can they be so silly?_ Maki had the music almost ready, or so she said, and Nozomi and I did more than enough studying for the day. Nozomi was sitting next to me and Maki was on the other side of the desk, still arguing.

"You two shouldn't fight over this…" They gave me a glare like it was a serious topic they were talking about. "I'll treat you two, how does that sound? So each of you can choose the pizza you want-"

"I had the idea, Elicchi. It's _my_ treat to the three of us for working hard today, so…" Nozomi turned her gaze towards Maki. "We will _share_ a big pizza-"

"I _only_ eat my pizza with tomatoes on top." Maki voiced stubbornly, crossing her arms and looking away. I had to chuckle.

"Except today!" Nozomi argued back, Maki opened her mouth to counter- only stopping at the sound of someone knocking on the door. _Oh… right._ I looked away as soon as I saw Hana through the window. _I almost forgot…_

"Ah…" It seems like Maki did too. "I'll see you two at the school entrance…" She muttered, hurriedly grabbing her stuff. "I don't think it'll take long." She quickly stood up, leaving us behind. _I sure hope so…_

"H-Huh?" I could feel Nozomi looking at me as soon as I heard the door close. I crossed my arms, looking away with annoyance.

"We should start to pick our stuff up too." My voice… sounded more irritated than I intended.

"What was _that?_ " Nozomi asked as I grabbed my bag. I shuddered my shoulders.

"I don't know. She wanted to talk to Maki about something…" I was failing hard at hiding it all. I felt awful for resenting the first year, but her intentions with Maki were more than obvious. I tried my best not to worry about it. _But… what if it happens? What if Maki does… correspond? Hmm? What am I going to do there?_

"Ah… are you really giving up that easily, Elicchi?" I closed my eyes, ignoring her as I stood up.

"Giving up on what?-"

"On Maki, of course." I flinched… the question caught me off guard, even though a big part of me _knew_ Nozomi knew… maybe even before me. I just thought we were just going to talk about it in a vague-joking form until... forever.

"I… I don't have a say in this." I walked out of the room, Nozomi just followed me.

"You might not have a _say_ , but you do have _something_ to say, don't you think?" I snorted, knowing there was no way to go back after this conversation.

"Let's just… wait for her." I glanced down at the floor as I tightened the grip on my bag.

…

 **Maki's POV:**

"What did you wanted to talk about?" I asked with a smile as we both stepped into the broadcast room. _She is acting kind of weird…_

"I just… wanted to know… Y-You know, if…" I furrowed an eyebrow.

"If what?" _And where is Fuyumi? They are always together._

"I-I wanted to… know if you would... like-to-do-something, w-when the Muse's are-not-that-busy-as you-are-right-now…" She wasn't looking at me, I had to tilt my head in confusion because she said that way too quickly.

"Do what when the group is not busy?" She looked away, moving her foot awkwardly. "Ah! Don't tell me…" I had to smirk at her. "You two just can't give up on those interviews…" She gave me a glare.

"Ugh, how dense can you be…" _Huh?_ I barely to hear what she seemed to whisper to herself. I sighed…

"I get it, I get it…" I crossed my arms as I looked at her. _It seems like it took a lot of courage for her to ask._ "Fine. I won't participate but I'll talk to the others." I gave her a smile… she kept giving me a weird look. "Some of them will be okay with it-"

"That's not-"

"I know the third years can look intimidating." I had to chuckle at the thought. "I don't think they would have any problems with-"

"You are _really_ close to all of them, aren't you?" I blinked twice because her usually cheerful voice seemed… off.

"Hmm… not really." I suddenly felt misplaced, so I started to curl my hair. "I-I'll ask about the interview…"

"Don't… What I _really_ wanted to say is…" I blinked, looking at her, waiting for her to talk. _What is it now?_ She sighed with frustration. "Ask for you to give us some of the Muse's recordings… s-so we could use them sometimes... at lunch and all that."

"Oh! Yeah, definitely…" I gave her a smile, but she seemed troubled for some reason. "I'll bring them to you tomorrow." I finished.

"Thanks... that's good." She gave me a smile but it seemed like something was wrong with her but… _it's not my business, isn't it?_

"G-goodbye, then." I voiced simply as I decided to just let her be. _Maybe she just argued with Fuyumi… it happens in all the clubs from time to time. They will work things out._

"Maki?" She voiced just when I was about to close the door. She gave me a genuine smile. "Let's have lunch together tomorrow."

I blinked twice, a bit surprised but then I smiled shyly. "S-Sure." I closed the door and sighed, _we are friends after all._

…

 **Eli's POV:**

I sighed with exasperation as Nozomi and I sat on a school bench near to the entrance. _What is taking her so long?_ I feared the worst.

"Elicchi, you are allowed to breathe, you know?" I sighed, _I just want to leave already._ "Stop hiding what you feel." She voiced simply.

"I-I am not-"

"It seems like you are… like hiding it would make it go away." She gave me a quick look before she continued to watch the sky, it was about to get dark. I crossed my arms and legs. "I'm not telling you to do it now, but If you don't even try…" I sighed loudly than ever, making her stop lecturing me.

"I _want_ to go all out, Nozomi…" I explained, knowing it would make sense to her. "But... I can't." _I am scared... I care too much about her. I don't want to ruin our friendship._

"Finally! That's what I wanted to hear!" She voiced cheerfully as she stood up. "And of course you can! You are Ayase Eli, Elicchi-"

"W-Where are you going-"

"Oh, I'm busy today." I had to blink twice in disbelief. "My _actual_ treat was letting you two go eat dinner together." I was so confused I couldn't move. "You can thank me later!" And just like that, she proceeded to walk away.

"W-Wait! Nozomi!" _I-Is she… she ran away!_ "Hey!" _What the…_ I scoffed, panic was starting to form inside me. _Of course this would be Nozomi's plan the entire time! How could I not see it…?_ I had to bite my lip. _This is bad. It's not like I explicitly told Nozomi about… the situation. But the implication was there... and now it all feels too real. This is really bad-_

"Eli?" I yelped in surprise, turning around to look at... _T-That smile…_ "Where is Nozomi?" _T-That face…_ She furrowed her eyebrow. _T-this is worse than-_ "Don't tell me we are not going to eat pizza?" I contained a squeak, knowing very well how _lost_ I was when I saw Maki with _that_ sad face she had now. "I-It's not like I wanted to actually go!" I had to bite my lip. _Nozomi I do hate you sometimes… but also I don't._

"She had to… work on… something." Maki glanced down to the floor and kicked a rock, I had to contain a chuckle. _You do love your tomato pizza, don't you?_ "Hey, but I'm still buying you a pizza."

"R-Really?" Maki's face light up like a little kid, _my heart…_ "I-I can buy my own pizza." She noticed her reaction was too much and trailed back.

"Oh, stop it! Let's just go!" _Yeah, walking will help me._ "I-If you don't mind going just the two of us…" I whispered barely audible and gave her a discreet look, she furrowed an eyebrow like I just said something crazy which made me unsure if she heard what I said or not, so I decided to leave it at that. _She is not uncomfortable… we have gone out alone plenty of times._ I shook my head shake the thought. "H-How did it go, by the way?" I asked as carelessly as I could.

"Huh?" She looked at me and I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

"You know… I thought your friend wanted to talk-"

"Ah! Yeah, she just asked me for the recordings of our songs, the broadcast club wanted to use them." _Hmm… Maki has no idea, does she?_

...

I was glad Maki decided to talk about our song for the event, I felt a lot calmer as we reached to the restaurant place. "Well, we are here." I smiled as I opened the door for her. _I-It's not a date, calm down…_ But my head felt like a mess again as Maki gave me _that_ thankful smile as she stepped in. _I blame Nozomi for this…_ I looked at Maki. _And you… for being so painfully perfect and adorable_

"It's on me! What pizza do you want? Nozomi is not here so we don't have to stick with one type." She smirked like she just won a bet. "It's weird that she had to leave, it was her idea..." I chuckled nervously, _it's better if you don't know..._

"Y-You don't have to buy it for-"

"but i want to." Maki voiced simply giving me a serious look. I gulped nervously.

"I-" "I won't take a no for an answer." She turned around, there was just one person left and then she could order.

I gave up, feeling too anxious suddenly. "Same as yours, I like it with tomatoes…" _Its not my favorite but I don't mind eating other flavors…_ besides, sharing a pizza with Maki has to be my favorite kind of pizza. I had to grunt silently with embarrassment at my own thought, _it's not a date!_ I had to scold myself… _stop it!_

"Done. I ordered you a chocolate shake, too." Maki smiled happily as she walked past me, looking for a table to sit. _If she is this dreamy when this is not a date… imagine-_ "Eli, do you prefer another table-"

I had to get back to reality. "No! That one is fine!" I said, hurriedly walking towards Maki. _A table for two…_ I felt my cheeks burning. _We will share a pizza… and if she only ordered one chocolate shake then we will share that too-ah!_ I shook my head again. _I need to stop watching romance movies!_

"Are you alright?" I flinched, didn't even noticed Maki was furrowing an eyebrow at me. "You are-"

"I'm fine! I'm perfect, actually." I... voiced that way too cheerfully. But Maki smiled and shrugged.

"Everyone acting so weird today…" She mumbled to herself, looking away and leaning on her elbow... probably eager to eat her pizza. _Because you are annoyingly charming, that's why._ "I'm not acting weird..." I took a deep breath, _act normal. It's just a friendly dinner._ I noticed Maki looking at me until a waitress walked towards our table. "Oh, it's here!" I blushed closing my eyes, _Oh my… this is totally going to look like a date to other people._

"Two pizzas…" I flinched as the waitress placed _two_ pizzas on our table. "Two shakes…" _Two…_ I repeated in my head. Maki grabbed her shake hurriedly to take a sip. "Are you two sisters?" I had to give a glare at the women, _how dare you…_ "Well, enjoy your dinner!" She finished with a smile.

"Thank you." Maki said politely. I sighed with annoyance* "We don't look like sisters, though." Maki thought out loud before she took her first bite, I had to look down to the floor. "Hmm, so good!" _Life is not a movie, I should've know that by now…_ "You are not eating, Eli?" Maki asked tilting her head adorably like she did sometimes.

I had to sit up straight, this time looking at Maki as she took another bite. _She looks so cute, though._ "I am, it looks good." _I mean… this is a first step, right?_ I took a bite of the pizza. _Oh!_ It's actually really good.

"Ha! I knew you would agree with me!" She voiced as she saw my expression of delight, I chuckled a bit, _it does taste good…_ I took another bite, only realizing how hungry I was. "I can't wait to tell Nozomi! This makes two against one." I laughed.

"You were hungry, huh?" I smiled at her, she looked happy enough. It was thrilling.

"Honestly? Yes." The munched happily and I contained a chuckle. _To think this is the same serious and imposing first year I meet a while ago..._

"It's not _that_ good, though." Maki gasped and I smirked. _Since the universe is teasing me so much today, the least I can do is tease you too, Maki._

"How dare you-"

"I think pineapple pizza is better than this." I tried to voice carelessly, but I couldn't contain a giggle as I took another bite. Maki was totally offended. I had to take a sip of my shake to stop myself from laughing, _I knew she had to be one of those people..._

"I… I can't even look at you right now… pineapples on a pizza?" Maki scoffed as I finally laughed. "Leave. You are not worthy of being here-"

"I'm just joking, Maki." I giggled a bit at how silly this was, Maki gave me a smirk.

"I know, I just had to joke back." She shuddered with a smile, taking another bite. _Of course you were._ "I can read all through you." I had to be the one to smirk this time. _You have no idea how wrong you are, Maki._

…

We talked for a bit, it was much more than nice. Maki seemed relaxed and laid back which was a surprise for me... it made me really happy to see her like that. Now we are walking back in a comfortable silence, I could guess Maki was as exhausted as I was. _We ate so much…_ I chuckled as I looked up to the stars. I heard Maki yawn so I turn my gaze towards her with a grin.

"Sleepy?" I ask, making her flush a bit.

"N-Not really." She sighed. "My stomach is just about to explode." Maki rubbed her belly like a kid, it made me giggle.

"Well, _you_ were the one that ordered the food, so…" I gave her a look. "You fault entirely."

"Yeah, whatever… I'm too tired to argue with you." I couldn't keep my eyes and smile away from Maki, I felt tired too… it was late, but the stars were shining bright… so I felt brave. Maki looked at her clock. "Wow, we spent a lot of time there. You are so good at making people talk, even me... I don't know how you do it..." She had to furrow an eyebrow playfully, I flushed a bit.

"I'm not like this with everyone, you are just... different." I looked at Maki sideways just to see her roll her eyes while I felt my cheeks burning.

"Whatever you say" She gave me a smile, she wasn't believing my words. I had to look away but... I just had to ask her. "Can I ask you something?" I couldn't look at her, not wanting her to get nervous. Or maybe it was because my heart was beating way too fast.

"Ugh, here we go again… No, I don't own a pony." She voiced, making the two of us chuckle at her own silly joke. _And you are funny too..._ "Just ask already!" She muttered, crossing her arms and sighing. "I can't think of anything you could ask that you don't know by now." She voiced out loud, looking at the stars.

"Do you… like anyone? Like... you know... _like._ " I emphasized and gulped, not believing I just asked that to her… _huh?_ I noticed she stopped walking so I had to turn around. She was there with her eyes opened wide, looking into the sky with pure horror. _I-I think I did ruin it this time…_

"W-W-What?" She muttered, looking at me this time. _Mistake, huge mistake!_ "A-As in a… w-w-what kind of questions is that?" I turned around away from her and closed my eyes with frustration. _I can't just ask something like that to Maki of all people!_

"I-It was just a joke, Maki! Relax! I was teasing you!" I lied with a nervous laugh as I started to walk away a lot faster, even though I only wanted to run away. _I'm so stupid!_ Maki's face got as red as her hair.

"H-Hey…" I felt someone pulling my jacket just around my elbow, Maki catch up to me and my blush appeared as soon as I saw her red cheeks. "D-Do you? Like… anyone?" Maki asked, leaving me a bit confused… she was tense. _I shouldn't have asked that... I shouldn't have asked that!_

"N-Not really…" I voiced nervously. _You are not just 'anyone' so I'm not lying._ "I-I mean… people don't _have_ to like someone… sometimes people don't like anyone at certain point in time... and that's fine." I was surprised by my own words, _dodged a bullet there._ I inspected Maki, she seemed pensive until… her face _really_ light up.

"Hmm..." Maki pulled a bit of her lower lip, her eyes fixed on the floor... "That makes sense." She finished with a smile but she seemed lost in her own thoughts still.

I looked away, deciding to voice something lowly. "Trust me, you would be the first one to know-"

"You are totally right!" Her cheerfulness caught me off guard, it was my turn to furrow an eyebrow. _she didn't even listen, what is wrong with her…? What did she realize?_

 **Maki's POV:**

Eli was furrowing an eyebrow at me, she seemed a bit blushed too. _You asked about this, not me!_ "Well, you didn't answer my question-"

"Oh! I also don't like anyone! Like we have time for that…" I voiced before i couldn't contain a laugh, _what a silly conversation. Why did that question made me so nervous? We don't like anyone, how could we? We are too busy with our Love Live and school! Eli is totally right, if I don't like anyone right now... there's no reason Eli has someone she likes._ I had to chuckle again "I think liking people is a waste, I mean… I don't think we could succeed in the Love Live if _any_ of the nine of us got into that sort of trouble."

"So you think… liking someone is only a problem?" I blinked twice at her, she seemed a bit surprised but also serious.

I had to chuckle. "Don't you?"

"Well… no, or… it depends I guess." _On what?_ She gave me a quick glance before looking away.

"Depends? I guess... but it _is_ an inconvenience, though." Eli gave me a serious look. _That might have sounded too cold, but... it's true._

Eli looked away thoughtfully. "A-Anyway, it's late. I'll see you tomorrow?"

The blonde sighed and I opened my eyes wide. "Yes! I need to go finish the song-"

"I thought it was finish-"

"Yes, but it needs some final touches, bye!" I ran away, _it is late and we do need the track for tomorrow! And... Eli wouldn't lie to me, right? No, I don't think so... it's just weird… that question came out of nowhere._

…

 **Eli's POV:**

I was lying on my bed, my palm resting on my forehead… _Maki is totally right. How I never realized how this could affect the group? Like messing up my friendship with Maki wasn't enough of a risk..._ I sighed deeply, closing my eyes. _I let myself get carried away… and I'm so glad Maki stopped me dead in my tracks before it was too late._ That's when I heard my phone…

"Nozomi..." I said with an unamused tone.

"So, how was the date-"

"Don't say that word, please… It wasn't like that." I closed my eyes with frustration. "Can we just pretend like we didn't _not-talked_ -about it today, please?" I could hear Nozomi talking a deep breath.

"If that's what you think is best, Elicchi." _It definitely is._

...

I was glad Nozomi didn't tease me more about it and dropped the topic. We chatted for a bit about school stuff and how she found seven birds eating together and that it must be good luck. When we hang up, I ate dinner with Arisa. I asked her questions about her day so I could hear her stories. She always manages to make me smile with her innocence and laugh. I... needed to cheer up.

Eventually it was time to sleep, but I was restless, so I rolled to my other side... 'It needs some final touches, bye!' Maki's words echoed in my brain. She is such a perfectionist. I looked at my phone, debating with myself... then I grabbed it. _More importantly than... whatever is wrong with my head now, Maki is my friend._

_ (Don't stay up too late with the song!)

_ (I told you its perfect the way you did it...) _You are perfect..._ I sighed, thinking it will take a bit for Maki to reply. Or maybe she will actually look at it tomo-huh? She answered already.

[You worry too much.] I had to smile at those words.

_ (Says the one staying up late to make some 'final touches') I kept looking at the screen. Pathetically, my face light up even more when I saw that Maki was typing right away.

[I am almost done.]

_ (You also need your rest, you know?)

[I know that.] She kept typing... so I waited.

[Can I ask you something kind of embarrassing?] I opened my eyes wide. _E-Embarrassing?_ My heart skipped a bit. I couldn't guess what it was...

_ (Yes, what is it?) She typed but then... she stopped. I waited for a bit, but nothing.

_ (Come on, what can't be more embarrassing than that question I asked you today to tease you?) _Yeah... it was just to tease her._ I growled at myself, _I need to be more careful around her... and she already made me realize how risky this is._

[Please, don't talk about that. Who asks something like that out of nowhere?] I had to laugh nervously. _Well... me._

[Anyway, what I wanted to ask is if I could send you the track when is finished so you can give me your honest opinion? Be critical.] I blinked twice, then I smiled.

_ (Of course!) I had to chuckle.

_ (What was so embarrassing about that?)

[I don't know, it just is.] I had to roll my eyes.

_ (Maki... you can trust me, I hope you knew that by now)

[Yes, I know. Honestly? I just have been feeling uncertain about the final product. And I want it to sound good. It's for Halloween after all.] I had to laugh at the girl.

[I will send it to you when I'm done.]

_ (It already sounds good...)

_ (I wouldn't lie to you)

_ (But I trust your judgement, work on it but not too much, alright?)

[Alright. But you can go to sleep, you can listen to it tomorrow.] I grunted at her words.

_ (I won't sleep until you are done) I noticed it was already past eleven pm.

_ (You have ONE hour, not more)

[Two hours.] I had to smirk, _negotiating, huh?_

_ (One and a half)

[One hour, 50 minutes. That's my final offer.] A chuckle escaped from my mouth.

_ (... That's like asking for two hours!)

_ (One and thirty five minutes)

_ (And that's final)

[You are stubborn.] I had to giggle, that was amusing coming from Maki of all people.

[Fine, I can work with that.]

_ (Good luck!)

_ (I'll wait!) I sighed, resting my phone on my stomach. Now... what to do with this time? _Maki is being productive... so I won't lose to her._ _I am going to study._

...

I did just that for exactly one hour and thirty five minutes... now I was anxiously looking at Maki's chat. I decided to wait... one minute, two... I sighed.

_ (Time is up, I even gave you 5 more minutes...)

[Almost done!] Eli couldn't stop a smile.

_ (Maki... it's late) I tapped my phone as I waited for an answer...

[Audio]

[Be honest.] I rolled my eyes, smiling while I hurriedly tried to find my earphones. I quickly pushed the play button... the music started... A wolf? A-And some creepy laughter? Is a prank or- after some bell sounds, the music actually started. I had to smirk _, you like this Halloween theme, don't you?_ I kept listening to the song and humming a bit, we have already practiced the lyrics. Maki managed to do it again... she made it sound even better, more lively. _With our costumes, set up and this... we found the impact we were looking for._

_ (11/10) _Just like you..._ I contained a chuckle at my thought.

[I told you to be honest! And critical.] I sighed.

_ (You did it, you perfected what already was perfect...)

_ (I loved the beginning... almost made me want to watch a horror movie) I had to smile as I sent that.

[I thought you didn't liked them?] I chuckled at her, hoping she laughed at that.

_ (I said 'almost') My stupid grin widened as Maki typed instantly.

_ (And I also said that I only didn't particularly watched them... you can't dislike what you don't watch) I smiled nervously... _it's not like it thrills me to watch one of those bloody murders._

[You liked the track, then?]

_ (Maki stop overthinking... I love it. Even the creepiness) I had to yawn, I was exhausted and I could imagine Maki felt the same.

_ (It really fits with the theme of the performance)

_ (And go to sleep, please)

[Don't tell me what to do.] I rolled my eyes, voicing those words with Maki's voice.

_ (Maki...)

[Fine. But only if you do something for me.] My eyebrows lifted with surprise.

_ (Anything) _Honestly! I would do anything for you._

[You have to watch a horror movie with me someday.] I blinked twice... _with her?_ She doesn't meant it like _that_ , she is just sleep deprived. I looked away, not sure of how to reply _. 'Yes! Please! I would watch ten horror movies if it meant spending time with you!'_ … _If only I could just say that._

[Oh. Sorry. That might have sounded embarrassing.] I had to bite my lip, Maki was hard to read through text... unlike in person.

[It was a joke. I know you wouldn't watch a horror movie.] I grunted a bit at the challenge. _I'm not a scared puppy... and I know you do like those movies._

_ (I would... it's not like I'm scared of the dark or anything) I smiled at my own silliness. _I wonder if she laughed at that..._ the hypothetical thought made me happy.

[Yeah, sure.] I hesitated... but I decided to go for it.

_ (If you go to sleep now, it's a deal)

_ (I will watch a horror movie) _If it's with you._

_ (If it's with you) I closed my eyes, _I did it... oh no..._

[Oh. I'm going to hold you to that.] I inhaled sharply.

[You do know I was about to go to sleep anyway?] I had to smirk, you may think you won but... maybe I did.

_ (If you don't say goodnight then there's no deal)

[Goodnight, then.] Of course I had to smile like an idiot.

_ (Goodnight, Maki) I sighed, leaving the phone on my bed. _Why am I so happy for something as silly as this? She didn't meant it like that... and she is probably going to forget._ I scratched an eye with one hand and I couldn't stop a chuckle, _I can't help it... watching a horror movie with Maki? I couldn't quite picture a more thrilling situation now. Wait... I am supposed to stop this nonsense with Maki! She doesn't feel the same! It's obvious! And she is right... we are too busy!_ I sighed with frustration at myself. _I need to stop._

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

It was almost time to perform, I was completely dressed as a blue pirate right now... The place was full of people but I wasn't worried. I grinned, we worked really hard. Now I looked around, watching the others talk and chat while Nico did her usual ritual before a performance... Maki was the only one that wasn't here yet so I decided to look for her. I walked back into the dressing room. It was as big as the one A-rise lend us at their school.

"Maki are you…" I had to blink more than twice at the view. "R-Ready?" I managed to finish.

"Yeah…" Maki answered, luckily not looking at me and my blushed face. She was tying up her cape, checking if it looked right in the mirror… _You look so good… Like, really, really good._ She turned her gaze towards me and gave me a smile. "Ah, so you got the pirate one, huh?" She chuckled and my heart skipped a beat. _This is going to be harder than I thought…_

"Y-Yeah…" I muttered, trying to look anywhere but at her. The skirt, corset, the bat crown. I closed my eyes. _I need to pull myself together._ "We go out in fifteen minutes…" I voiced robotically, then almost gasped as I saw her sitting, putting her heels on. _W-Why no one gave me a heads up-_

"I'm almost ready." Maki voiced while I had to look away with a blush as soon as I saw her thighs. _This is not new but… this outfit suits Maki so well, I'm…_ "Ugh, why are you allowed to wear boots? And I have to wear _this_."

I laughed nervously while Maki put on her heels. "L-Lucky me, right?" I had to turn around to not look at her.

"Is something wrong?" I gave her a glance over my shoulder.

"N-No! It's just, hmm…" I turned around, not able to face her. "You just look great, beautiful, it's…" _Hot_. "Cute!" I opened my eyes wide, _how can it be so hard to keep myself together?!_ The distinctive sound of heels gave away that she was walking towards me, I had to take a deep breath. "I'm teasing you. You look spooky, as you should." I gave her a smile, she rolled her eyes.

"You think I'm going to forget about the horror movie just because you are being nice?" I inhaled sharply because I legitimacy thought that she forgot... also, something was different but I couldn't quite grasp what it was. "Wait…" She locked her eyes with mine, in that moment I realized… _no!_ She laughed out loud. "I'm taller than you!"

"No, you are not!" _Kotori, I won't forgive you for this!_ "It's cheating!"

"You do know that I can still grow a bit? I could be taller than you in a couple years…" She gave me the smuggest smirk ever. I locked my eyes with her in a challenging manner, even though the violet orbs made me fluster even more.

"Don't you dare-"

"Why you care so much about being taller than me?" She chuckled again.

"I-I don't know and I don't want to talk about it!" I voiced a bit irritated by how out of control I was right now. It wasn't usual... but Maki is just... _this is going to be a lot harder than I thought._ _It's like I lose my composure everytime I interact with her. It is her fault, though!_

"You two!" Maki and I flinched at the yell. "It's almost time, how unprofessional!" Nico scolded us from all over the hallway. I sighed as Maki and I rushed towards her. _What a nightmare._

"If it makes you feel better…" I looked at Maki as she gave me a quick gaze. "I don't think I'll grow much, honestly. Family genes and i'm not that young, you know?" She explained, making me laugh a bit.

"I will have to thank your parents someday." I voiced with a smile, looking ahead and now it was Maki's time to laugh at our silliness. _Keep it together, Ayase!_

* * *

 **Hope the formatting is right... I keep fighting with it. So... I know, I know! This is the overly humorous chapter no one asked for and ended up having too much random comedy. I can't help it sometimes lol! and decided to keep the EliMaki texting thingy... hope it's easy to understand. ALSO! Thank you again to everyone that review/follow/fav! Its what motivates me the most to keep the story going so if you enjoy, please leave a review. It really helps a lot and I really appreciate the tips and thoughts!** ˄˄


	18. Chapter 18 - Lies

**About time, right? x3 I want to say THANKS for the follows/favs/reviews! Again, it means a lot to know people like the story so far! It's really motivational, especially with chapters like this that makes me take a while to be brave enough to post haha**

* * *

 **Lies**

* * *

 **Maki's POV:**

"Ahhh!" Hanayo's scream of horror made me flinch. _Seriously? What is it now?_ I was reading in our club room, there was only Hanayo, Rin and Nico with me… we were waiting for the others but they needed to solve something about the student council. "I-It's…" I rolled my eyes, _Hayano... this is going to take a while, isn't it?_

Of course Rin and Nico couldn't wait any longer, so they ran towards the first year to see what was going on. "Ahhh!" They also yelled, making me furrow an eyebrow, I was curious by now. "I-It's a… but how are we going to?" Nico muttered to Rin, since Hanayo was frozen still.

"We can do it nya! Right?" Rin asked me, _and how am I supposed to know?!_

"We can do what?" I turned around towards the voice, Eli just stepped into the club room with the rest of the girls looking curiously over her shoulder. Nico and Rin exchanged some concerned looks.

"What is it Hanayo-chan?" Honoka walked towards the computer screen.

Eli also followed and leaned in to read. "W-What?" She voiced with confusion, still looking at the screen. _Eli, no!_

"Can someone just tell me what's going on?!" I asked loudly than I intended.

"I-It's a… a what?" _Seriously Umi? You too?_

"It's a new event." Nozomi explained calmly when she finished peeking behind Hanayo.

"It's not _just_ an event, Nozomi! A-rise will be there! Of course… that's why this is now such a big deal…" Nico explained to herself like she just figured where a treasure was. "This is a big deal!" She repeated towards everyone this time just in case.

"Great." I voiced with sarcasm, _of course it had to be another event._

"But… we can't participate." Umi said this time. "It's only for trios." _Ah!_ I sighed with relief, _that settles it…_ I had to smile. _We can finally focus on the love live and no more useless side events._

"But they invited us! They want us here! Hanayo, finish reading the entire e-mail!" Nico commanded, making Hanayo panic a bit.

"We would love to see the Muse's in… Ah!?" _Hanayo is so bad at giving straightforward information-_

"Sheesh, let me read it!" Nico leaned in to look at it herself. "We would be delighted, blah, blah… we want to… They… they want us to form three trios to participate?! Muse's mini-units, they call them?" Nico frowned while one of my eyebrows uplifted.

"W-What?" Honoka asked this time. "What are mini-units?" _For once, I'm as confused as Honoka…_

"Doesn't matter what it means. We can't participate… there's nine of us, we have always worked together." I voiced before leaning on my elbow and pretended to read my book once again.

"Ah… Maki-chan only likes to dance together nya-"

"That's not what I-"

"I think we already have three mini-units." Nozomi suddenly said with a thoughtful smile on her face. Eli seemed to realize something in that moment.

"Ah! Nozomi is right!" The blonde smiled, _Eli… what about being the voice of reason here?_

"We do?" Honoka asked, once again not understanding what was going on.

"Yeah… Umi-chan, Rin-chan and me." I blinked with surprise at Nozomi's words.

"So I am with Honoka-chan and Hanayo-chan?" Kotori asked sweetly, exchanging a smile with the other two.

Eli smirked at me. "And we-"

"Oh no!" Nico cut her off, crossing her arms. "I think we should insist in performing the nine of us together. It would make us stand out against the others." The third year nodded, agreeing with her own thoughts. _For once, I agree with you, Nico-chan._

 **Eli's POV:**

"I don't think participating in this event is a good idea!" Maki voiced sharply, crossing her arms just like Nico. I sighed deeply, then I looked at the others and… I had to flinch at them. Everyone was giving me a _weird_ smile. I blinked in realization. _H-How am I supposed to convince them? Especially them!_ Silence. Smiles. Eyes on me.

I sighed once again. _Fine. I'll try._ "Come on, I think the three groups worked well together last time, don't you think?" I asked softly towards Maki and Nico. They growled simultaneously in response… I grinned nervously even if I was not expecting any less from them.

"It's decided then! Hanayo-chan, tell them we are going to participate!" Honoka voiced cheerfully.

"Hey! I'm telling you is not a good idea!" Maki glared at Honoka, who just put out her tongue at her. _Don't fuel the fire, Honoka..._ Maki clenched her fists on the table. "You little-"

"But first we need a name for each group… and prepare two songs so we can actually participate." Hanayo said with some worry. _Okay… two songs each is a lot of work._

Nico seemed to snap. "Seriously!? This is stupid! We are popular enough to ask them-"

"But Nicocchi, what if you are the center? Since there's only three people, the odds are with you…" I was impressed at Nozomi. _You have her on the palm of your hand, don't you?_

Nico laughed out loud. "Ha! So _that's_ why they wanted sub-units! They want me to take the spotlight…" The third year cleaned a fake tear, I saw Maki roll her eyes. _Maki is not going to be so easy to convince, though…_

"Now we only need our composer…" I said softly next to the redhead, making her flinch. Everyone was giving me an intense look… I gave them a glare, _I-I'm trying, okay?_

Maki moved on her seat. "H-How am I supposed to compose _six_ songs, huh?" I rested my palms on my knees, leveling my head with hers while locking our eyes together, giving her the best reassuring smile her I had. _We can do it!_ "T-This is not-"

"We will work together like last time." Maki looked away, she blushed… then looked at me again…

"D-Don't use your puppy eyes on me!" She muttered angrily, I blinked twice as I felt my cheeks warming up, _p-puppy eyes?_ "Ugh…" She frowned… then she sighed. "Fine. Whatever." All the girls cheered at the victory, Nozomi gave me a thumbs up that only intensified my embarrassement at Maki's remark. "I still think is a bad idea, Eli!" She whispered towards me this time, the rest of them were chatting happily. I gave the redhead another smile, she scoffed and looked away from me, leaning back on her elbow. the 'puppy eyes' still echoing in my mind.

"Puppy eyes, huh? At this rate I'll have to-"

"Nozomi!" I scolded her in a whisper glad that she was discreet enouch to say that next to my ear so no one else could hear her.

I cleared my throath to compose myself and also get the rest of the girls attention "Well, Maki _is_ right, though. We will need to work harder, six songs is a lot!" Everyone started to listen to me carefully. "Each group needs to choose a name and have the initial idea of the songs…" Most of them nodded or smiled with joy, _at least this event doesn't resolve that much on dancing, it's more about songs themselves..._ I had to look at Maki, she was now curling her hair, _six songs... that's-_

"So we need to start tomorrow!" Honoka voiced with excitement.

"Today!" Umi corrected her while some of us giggled.

"We need to focus on three things: the name of the unit, we need it for tomorrow to fill the application. Then the songs themselves and the costumes." I voiced as I started to get some second thoughts on the matter, I had to look at the redhead again, _maybe this will be too much work in the end... especially for Maki and Umi._ But the girls seem excited so I couldn't backtrack now.

"I think we should try to have fun! It's the most important thing, right?" Honoka smirked.

"We have a reputation now, Honoka! We need to do an amazing job for our audience!" Nico snorted with frustration.

"Both of you are right." Nozomi intervened. "I do think we can work hard and have fun at the same time, that's what we always do." I gave my best friend a smile.

"I'm sure we can pull it off." I voiced trying to inject some confidence in everyone, Maki in particular but she just snorted in response.

"I will have to keep an eye on you, Honoka…" Umi voiced, giving the other second year a glare. "Kotori spoils you too much and you are a bad influence for Hanayo!" We laughed at the memory of Honoka and Hanayo's escapades to the restaurant.

"You are so mean, Umi-chan!" Honoka cried.

"Well, the rules are clear…" Umi continued, ignoring Honoka's complains. "Let's get to work!"

"Yeah!" The girls yelled… well, except Umi and Maki, they just sighed instead. _You two always worry, don't you?_

"Let's go eat-I mean… work!" Honoka muttered with a smile, grabbing Kotori and Hanayo's hand to pull them away. "See you tomorrow!" And so they ran, I blinked twice and not even Umi was fast enough to argue.

"S-Someone save me!" We heard Hanayo's yelling, it made me chuckle.

"Well, can we go to a park or something, nya?" Rin asked excitedly, mostly towards Nozomi. "If they can go eat, we can go have some fun."

Nozomi gave Rin a tender smile. "I don't know… can we, Umi-chan?" Umi gave Nozomi an unamused look. "Or we could go to the school yard?" Umi nodded approvingly, Nozomi smirked. "I love taking naps there-"

"We are not taking a nap-hey!" Rin pulled Nozomi away, making Umi rush to follow the two girls. "Stop it!"

"Good luck, Elicchi!" Nozomi voiced just before I couldn't see them anymore… I sighed, looking at the only girls left with me… _I might need that luck today. The other groups seem... somewhat balanced but-_

"We will stay at the club room!" Nico snorted before she turned her gaze towards me. _When did they even started arguing?_ "So we can look up any information we need on the-"

"No!" Maki interrumped, finally standing up. "We should go to the music room! Shouldn't we work on the music?" I smiled nervously as the redhead looked at me when she asked that question, seeking my support.

"That's just stupid, we need a cool name first-"

"I-I thought we could work on the rooftop? Step by step… first, we need a name." I muttered, trying to ease the tension. _I need to control these two. Somehow._

"Ugh, fine." Nico walked past Maki and I. "Come on, we are wasting our time!" Maki sighed, reluctantly following the third year.

I started to rub one of my temples. _Forget about luck… I'm going to need much more than that today._ "Eli? Are you coming?" Maki's voice woke me up from my own thoughts. I ran towards her.

"Y-Yes, of course!-"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Maki asked, still with her arms crossed while I closed our club room.

"Of course! We will have fun and… Some competition inside the Muse's could be healthy, don't you think?" I gave her a smile, trying to encourage her. She raised an eyebrow before she smirked.

"Alright, alright… I trust you." I had to smile wide. _I love when she says that..._

"Can you two be any slower?!" Nico yelled from the top floor.

…

 **Maki's POV:**

"How lazy, taking so much time to get here-"

"Well, _you_ are annoying!" I had to counter Nico's words, she opened her mouth to respond.

"Okay, okay…" Eli said gently, placing one hand on my shoulder and the other on Nico's. "Let's just sit here so we can start working, right?"

"Fine…" I answered while Nico just scoffed. We sat down, making a small circle. I curled my hair, Nico looked away from us and Eli...I noticed sideways the blonde's nervous face as she looked at both of us. _I'm sure she is trying hard to figure something to do,_ I had to contain a chuckle. _That's what she always does after all._

"So… our group name. Any ideas?" Eli asked with a huge smile. _I'm not falling for that face of yours again. Not twice in a row._

"That would be easy. Nico-nico-ni-" I gave Nico an unamused look. "Nico-nicers? Sounds great, right?" _Not even you believe that!_

"L-Let's not use Nico next time…" Eli voiced with her eye twitching. "Ah! Let's take a few minutes to think, then the three of us will propose a name so we can debate which is better, alright?" I shrugged, _I can't fight her enthusiasm sometimes._

"It's not like we have anything better to do…" I voiced lowly, crossing my arms, Eli just gave me a little smile. _Think, Maki… what do we have in common? Eh-nothing, I think?_ I sighed… time was passing and… _still n-nothing._ I closed my eyes. _Hmm... No. No luck... 'No luck' sounds fitting, though-_

"Ready?" Eli clapped suddenly, making me flinch. She gave me a smirk, _you startled me on purpose!_ "Nico?" The blonde asked, turning her gaze towards the other third year.

"Nico Nico-I-I mean… Nii-love? It's easy and it will appeal to anyone!" Eli and I sighed loudly. "Nii-love-"

"Maki?" I flinched, looking away from the blonde.

"Uhm… What about… 'Untitled'?" I had to close my eyes. "No! 'No names', yeah, that one! Or was about 'no luck'?" I gave Eli a nervous smile, she just twitched her eye once again I had to chuckle, _the face of disappointment._ Nico was laughing out loud.

"W-Well, I guess mine is the most creative." Eli voiced proudly, crossing her arms. _Yeah, let's just choose Eli's and go-_ "Chocolatier!" I opened my mouth in disbelief. Nico suddenly stopped laughing. "W-What? I think it sounds great…" Eli stuttered, not understanding our reaction.

"Yeah, for a bakery store!" Nico proceeded to laugh out loud once again.

"W-What's wrong with-"

"People are going to think we are giving them sweets instead of music!" Nico said with full seriousness this time.

"Oh, I think it's _great."_ I voiced sarcastically, Eli gave me a glare.

"Fine! Zero progress so far, then." The blonde looked away with embarrassment and frustration. "L-Lets just try something else-"

"Like giving up?" Eli frowned angrily at my tease, which of course made me smirk wider.

"We just need something short and charming, what about A-nice?" _Nico! You are insufferable!_ Eli just face palmed herself.

"Seriously? Copying A-rise? How lame!" I snorted at the raven haired girl.

"Like 'no names' was any better!-"

"Okay!" Eli interrupted, stopping the fight once again. "We will just play a word game, let's see what comes out of it…" I had to smile at her, _at least someone is trying…_ "It goes like this: I will say a word, then you two will continue with another one that forms a sentence until… something comes up." Nico and I furrowed our eyebrows at Eli. "Hopefully…" She muttered to herself between a fake cough, I sighed.

"Whatever…" _It can't get any worse, right?_

"Okay, ready?" Nico nodded, the blonde then looked at me. "I…" _You? You what?_ Eli smirked, I flinched realizing the game started already, _oh!_

"It needs to be fast, Nishikino! Sheesh!" Nico complained.

I gave her a glare, my cheeks slighty blushed with embarrassement. "O-Okay I get it..."

Eli chuckled at me. "I." She repeated, still smiling, finding amusement at the situation.

"Am" I voiced, looking away.

"A"

"Chocolate." I had to stop myself from giggling, _Eli, really?_

"Who."

"Can't"

"Eat"

"Fish?"

"In"

"My"

"Lake"

"Because"

"This" _Doesn't make sense…_

"Is"

"STUPID!" Nico yelled.

"But." Eli continued.

"When"

"She"

"Leaves"

"The"

"House"

"With"

"The"

"B..." _Blonde? No!_ "B… Bi-bicycle!" I blushed intensively, covering my face with one hand. _I got distracted!_

"Bibi bicycle? What?" Nico laughed out loud and I got even more flustered. "You lose, Nishikino!" I had to look away angrily, _I hate this game already._

"Hmm… Bibi?" Eli pensively grabbed her chin. "What do you think? It's short and catchy… it's different." She voiced with a genuine smile. I blinked twice. "It has some style to it-"

"What the-"

"I think its fine." I voiced lowly. _Let's just get this over with!_

"I think it's charming. What do you think, Nico?" Eli looked at her fellow third year. _The patented Eli smile…_

"W-Well… whatever!" _That smile works most of the time._ "The name is not what's important anyway!" Nico gave us an intense look. "What we _really_ need to do is work on your catchphrases!"

"Then Bibi is it!" Eli giggled, ignoring Nico's comment. "I mean, it could be worse… we could be 'untitled'." The blonde gave me a teasing smile.

"Like A-nicer was any better!" We laughed at Nico this time.

"Excuse me?! Choco-losers was the worst proposal _by far!_ " Eli gave Nico a glare.

"I guess it's up there in the top worst…" I smirked, the blonde just snorted at my words.

"Okay, next topic… we are called Bibi, now we need two songs…" _Yes, we do, the name was the easy part and it took us a while-_ I flinched, _w-why are they looking at me like that?!_ "W-What-"

"That's your work." Nico explained simply. "Just give me the center and the solos and we a done." I turned my gaze to Eli, seeking some help.

"Well, Maki… you are the most creative-" I narrowed my eyes at her. "O-Okay, I know! We need to work together!" I smiled triumphantly. "Nico will be the center for one of the songs and Maki will be the other." Nico did her Nico-nico-thing as I tensed up.

"M-Me? No- I don't want to!-"

"Neither do I, so…" Eli shrugged, giving me a teasing smirk. I inflated my cheeks with frustration. _Seriously, Eli?!_

"Then I'll be the center twice-"

"Let's just flip a coin, here... You do it, Nico. I'll be heads." She gave me a smirk, crossing her arms like she already won.

"W-Wait…" Nico flipped it… Eli's smile went wider. It all went too fast so I sighed in defeat, _y-you…_ I frowned at the blonde.

"So, now we have the centers." _I don't like you at all!_

"D-Do I even have a say in this-"

"You won fairly, Maki." Eli voiced simply, then winked at me so I blushed between embarrassement and anger.

"Yeah, just stop being a whiny baby!" Nico snorted, I just frowned and looked away _._

"Now we just need a place to work on the songs tomorrow…" I crossed my arms with frustration. _I can't believe she is making me be the center! Eli is so much better at it…_ I suddenly realize the both girls are looking at me.

"W-What? No! We won't go to my house!" _A hundred times no!_

Eli chuckled a bit. "Okay, we can work at my place." She smiled, standing up. "I think we can continue tomorrow-"

"Yup! I do need to go get the groceries. Nico Nico Ni-" I growled at Nico's excitement. _At least someone likes being in this mess…_ I had to stand up, following the other two girls while looking away with annoyance. "About time I got the spotlight!" Nico voiced happily, making Eli chuckle. "Maki-Maki-ma-" I opened my eyes wide while the blonde laughed loudly. "Ugh-I think I'm going to puke, I'll need to think of something else-"

"I am not getting a catchphrase!" I yelled as Eli kept laughing. I was annoyed, to say the least.

I walked in silence, letting the two third years talk… until we separated from Nico. Then I kept looking ahead, not talking or looking at the blonde next to me. I knew Eli would break the silence sooner or- "Well, you seem excited about the event now…" I could see sideways that Eli was smiling wide. I just ignored her… "Come on…" She bumped me softly with her shoulder.

"Hmph." I looked away from her.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked in a soft pleading tone. "I just want to see you as the center…" _T-That voice of hers…_ I turned my gaze sharply at her. Eli just smiled wider.

"W-Why? You are better at it than me!" I voiced in an outburst. "You should do it instead…" I voiced, almost begging. "Please?" Eli flinched, but then giggled.

"You will do great, Maki!" She wrapped an arm around me in an awkward half-hug, making me blush even more. "It's going to be interesting-"

"You talk like I am your science project!" Eli had to giggle. "A-And stop hugging me!" But she was warm… and the weather was starting to get cold. So when she stepped away I got angry at myself.

"I'll help you with the songs if you do it, deal?" I gave her an unamused look.

"You are _supposed_ to help!" I glared at her, _why is she acting like this?_ "I don't win anything from being the center so I don't see how it is a deal-"

"Just don't think about it, it's not like being the center is _that_ different, Nico and I will be there the whole time." She gave me a reassuring smile, _the light of the moon on her… again._

"That's easy for you. You are like a natural shining star!" I blushed as the words came out without filter, but I was only saying the true. Eli still stopped dead on her tracks. "W-What? I'm just being objective here!" Eli's reaction _did_ embarrassed me, she was completely flustered.

"M-Maki…" She sttutered looking at me while I blushed even more. _I-I'm just being honest! Eli looks good under the moonlight, like a shining star… anyone would say that, right?_ I looked at the blonde in front of me, I sudeendly felt very nervous. "I-" I blinked twice when a flying piece of paper hit her on her face. It was _my_ turn to laugh out loud at her. "Ah… S-So now you laugh?" Eli seemed even more embarrassed now.

"At you? Yes, definitely." I shrugged, turning around to keep walking, not wanting the weird tension of what I said to build up again.

I heard Eli sighing deeply. "Are you going to act mad at me for a while?" She asked from just behind me.

"Maybe. And I'm not _acting._ " I answered simply as I kept walking, trying to make my grin fade away. She had to take some quick steps to finally catch up to me. I noticed Eli shuddering her shoulders.

"Whatever I have to do to see you as the center…" I had to flinch at her, she smirked at me. "And I'll be in the front row to see you-"

"S-Shut up!" I snapped with embarrassment. "This is because of the horror movie, isn't it?" Eli blinked twice. _It has to be it! That's why she is teasing me like this!_ "I trade that right for not being-"

"Not possible." Eli voiced simply and walked away. Her blunt response took me by surprise.

"I... I'm going to research the most acary movie ever." I tryied to sound threathening so she would change her mind.

Eli shrugged but didn't looked at me. "I can take it." I scoffed not knowing where that bravery of hers came from.

"You are saying that now..." I voiced, she gave me a quick look this time... _is she a bit blushed?_

"Maybe." Eli was now looking at me, she seemed slighty blushed. "Or maybe it's worth enough to see you as the center-"

"S-Stop it!" Eli gave me a smirk, _fine! You win... just stop looking at me like that!_ "What's got into you..?" I asked lowly before giving Eli a quick look, she just chuckled.

"That's a question for another day."

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

It was our second meeting as 'Bibi'. I tensed up when Eli opened the door of her apartment, I blushed because I've never been there.

"Come on in." The blonde smiled politely and Nico stepped in casually. _So Nico has been here before…_ I noticed Eli kept looking at me, _of course! I am standing here like an idiot!_ I finally entered the apartment… feeling shy and out of place. It did not seemed that big, but it was… cozy and welcoming. Very different to my own house. I had to look around with curiosity.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Nico snorted, sitting on the sofa.

"I'll get some snacks." Eli voiced happily before walking towards her kitchen.

"Just sit... You look like an awkward tree just standing there."I flinched at Nico's words, she gave me a quick look as I blushed with embarrassment. I sighed, reluctantly sitting on the free beanbag so the two third years could use the couch.

Nico turned on the TV and I had to furrow an eyebrow. Eli eventually came with some drinks and something to eat that aurprisingly did not had chocolate in it. I looked around nervously, Eli kept her eyes on me while Nico looked at some reality show. "A-Aren't we supposed to be working on _two_ songs?" I decided to ask, Eli gave me a nervous look.

Nico sighed and leaned on her elbow. "Yeah, we are waiting." She explained like that made totally sense.

"Waiting for what?-"

"W-We are not… particularly good at making songs, Maki." Eli muttered shyly, I blinked in realization. "But we can help-"

"So you two are just going to sit there while I do the work?!" _I can't believe it!_

"N-No... Nico! Turn the TV off-" Eli scolded the other third year, the girl sighed but did what she was told

"What now…" Nico gave me a glare, crossing her arms.

"O-Okay… what are we supposed to do, Maki?" Eli gave me an intense look, focusing entirely on me. "How do we make a song?" I glanced around the two girls.

"H-How do we make…?" I blushed intensively. _It's an intimate process! Y-You just… Ugh!_ "T-This is worse than I thought…" I had to look away. "You two… don't write?" Both of them blinked twice, not understanding.

"L-Like a diary?" Eli asked shyly.

"Not like-No! Not a diary!" I had to rub my own eyes with frustration. _Of course they don't know how to make a song! Eli knows how to dance to the song, and Nico… well, Nico-_

"So… like what?" I had to gaze towards Eli. She now seemed worried, I guessed it was because she felt useless in this situation. "Just tell me what we need to do to help you!" _I-I can't work with you looking at me like that._ I decided to stand up, grabbing my bag. "M-Maki?"

"You two work on the costumes. I'll take care of the rest." Nico and Eli exchanged some confused looks. "I'll have to go now so we can have something by tomorrow."

"B-But-Wait!" And just like that, I left them, closing the door behind me. I sighed loudly, looking up to the sky and finding myself wanting to enter that apartment again instead of being on my own. _I am going to have to use my old notebooks._ I shivered, _so embarrassing! But we ran out of options... The others already have made more progress than us, even if one of their songs is entirely about food… I contained a chuckle. We need to step it up!_

…

I rested my forehead on the desk, it was filled with papers and my old music notes. _This is awful!_ I had to blush again, remembering my own handwriting… 'Try your hardest, never never, never give up. Na na na na na that's what I want to be.' I had to hit my forehead against the desk, remembering myself singing those words years ago. I hit my forehead again. Twice this time. _And this is not even the worst! '_ Sparkling princess, Sighing princess. Being ordinary's a no-no, no more safety. While I, the melancholic princess, am awake' I had to growl.

 _Dying must be less painful than getting through this… what was I even thinking when I wrote this stuff in middle school?!_ I sighed, _on top of that._ I turned my gaze towards my phone, Eli's name keep popping out occasionally. _She just keeps texting me!_

"Sheesh…" _This material is not nearly enough to make two songs with it. Should I call Umi?_ No, she has to be busy enough. I had to hit my head against the desk again. _I can't go to the piano until the lyrics make sense!_

"Maki, I'm home!" I didn't even turned around, I knew by the sound that my mom just opened the door of my room and she probably smiled at me. "Too much to study?" I rolled my head on the desk to look at her.

"Maybe." I voiced simply, she gave me a tender smile.

"I'll make you some tea, then." I sighed as she left. _Is it so hard to close the door when you leave?!_ I did not had the energy to complain to her like I always did. I sat up straight, looking at the papers in front of me. _I-I could just ask her…_ I thought, remembering how much my mom loved poetry. _She is good with words... I dont want to ask her but I am running out of options._

"M-Mom?" I half yelled.

"Yes, dear?" She yelled back. I had to sigh in defeat.

"Can you help me out with something?" It did not take more than 10 seconds to hear her steps. I rolled my eyes, _I don't usually ask for help so she must be... excited_. I growled, _I knew this event was a bad idea._

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

"So…" Eli muttered awkwardly. It was late, the sky was dark and we were just getting out of school.

"There's nothing to talk about!" I voiced with annoyance, remembering Eli and Nico's face as they read up the two songs… _Diamond Princess no Yuutsu and Love Novels… how could I agree to all this?!_ "Just be thankful that I was able to get something ready in time!"

"They are really good, Maki. I loved them!" I saw the blush in her face. _But they are embarrassing!_

"I told you my mom is the one who wrote them!" _Well, not really…_ "I-I mean! The embarrassing parts!" I had to shiver at the memory of one of the verses 'Seduce me, embrace me madly. If I forget about it all… I won't need tomorrow.'

Eli chuckled. "We didn't even teased you about it, you are teasing yourself-"

I gave her a glare. "I _really_ don't like you." I voiced sharply, closing my eyes and looking away. "Especially lately."

"You don't, huh?" She asked and I could picture her smug face.

"I don't." I repeated, still with my eyes closed. Until I suddendly felt Eli's hand pulling me by my arm, _w-what is?!_ I flinched, noticing how I almost bumped into a post, my cheeks burned while I heard Eli's giggle.

"And now?-"

"Even less!" I stormed out, making her catch up to me.

"Ah, Maki… I'm just teasing you." She cleaned a tear because of her laughter. "It makes me proud to see you work this hard. But also guilty for being so useless… I'm sorry." Eli smiled at me, her eyes hypnotized me. " _You_ are a shining star." I blushed, remembering how I said that once to her… _H-How could I do something like that._

"Y-You know what?! I'm busy. I now have _six_ songs to compose and it's mostly _your_ fault." Eli hugged me suddenly. "W-What are you even doing now-"

"This is payback for ignoring me last night. And to encourage you and give you good luck." I blushed as I felt the scent of her hair. "Don't leave again like you did yesterday..." Her voice was serious this time.

"So now this is my punishment?" My face was burning and my body was tense... _but it doesn't feel like a punishment at all_ \- I shook my head. "We needed the songs fast!" I snapped.

"Not a punishment... I just like hugging you-"

I managed to pull away from her. "That's all the teasing I can take for a day. I'm gone." I voiced running towards my house… we were just a few steps away, anyways.

"Good luck!" Eli waved at me. _She is the most embarrassing human being I've ever encountered in my life I can't believe-ugh! She can't just hug me like that, like its no big deal! She doesn't get embarrassed but I do! Even if she is a decent hugger..._ I covered my heated face.

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

I nodded at my notes, I was sitting in my classroom trying to work on the music for our event a bit _. Ok, now that I have a good idea of what to do with Sweet &Sweet Holiday, I'm done with Printemps._ I sighed, _now onto Lily White._ I pulled my lower lip as I read through the lyrics... then took some notes on my booklet.

"You don't have practice today?" I gave the girl in front of me a quick glance. I didn't even saw Hana sitting in the desk in front of me, I though the classroom was empty by now.

"I'm... working on some new songs." I simply gave the answer, keeping my focus on what I was doing. Hana leaned on her elbow, looking at my desk with curiosity.

"Ah... sounds like fun!" I glared at Hana, making her flinch. "O-Or not...?"

"Definitely not..." _Hmm... This could work, I took some notes in a new page._ I gave her a quick look, realizing she was still here.

"What about your club?" I asked not taking my attention away from my notes.

Hana hummed a bit. "I... I'll go later." I gave her a quick look.

"Fuyumi is going to scold you." She chuckled a bit and I smiled.

"She _always_ does that, though... I guess you are too busy to eat lunch with us tomorrow, right? Like... to celebrate the end of our cleaning duties." I gave her an apologetic smile, now I noticed she was giving me an intense look for some reason.

"Y-Yeah... I have more things to do than time until this event is over." She grinned at me.

"Alright, then!" She stood up cheerfully while I returned my eyes to the lyrics. "I'll go before Fuyumi kills me!" I chuckled a bit at her as she walked away. "Good luck!"

"Thanks, bye..." I answered a bit absentmindly. _Hmm... This one might be better using a slower tempo..._

 _..._

 **Eli's POV:**

 _Maki is taking too long to get to the music room..._ I sighed, _maybe she went home? She is busy after all... we all are depending on her to compose now. I'll call to check up on her if she is not in here-_

I flinched slighty when I saw Hana walk away from the first year's classroom. She smiled at me politely and I did the same as we walked past. I contained a grunt of annoyance when she was gone. _Now I guess Maki is definitely here..._ I peeked into the classroom and... there she was. I scolded myself from not going here first.

"Maki?" I asked shyly, I didn't wanted to interrupt but... I wanted to at least try to help her. She turned her gaze towards me.

"Oh, Eli!" Her face light up and she smiled, if my heart could melt, it would have melted at this moment.

I grinned a bit nervously. "You... are not working in the music room today?" She kept her eyes on me and I felt kind of guilty for interrupting her workflow.

"Oh yeah..." Maki quickly grabbed her papers. "The last period was kind of boring so I started working on the songs and... couldn't stop." She explained before she chuckled, I kept my eyes on her, _you work too hard._ Maybe this was a bad idea like you said.

"Hmm... I don't think you should do that-"

Miae giggled as she took her bag and the bunch of papers and notebooks scattered on her desk. "Don't worry, I'm good with Math." She stood up and walked towards me, I have her a proud smile.

"I'm sure you are, but... i'm kind of worried-"

"What about?" Maki frowned at me, I rolled my eyes internally.

"Not about the songs. About you... maybe this is too much-"

"I can do it!" Maki gave me a quick look. "You know I can." She said that like she tried just to ease my concern. I sighed in defeat.

"I know that... but how can I help? Nozomi and I can go study somewhere else if you-"

"W-Why? No! I -Imean..." She looked away with embarrassment. "I don't mind if you two stay there... I have good concentration, you two are not distracting." I had to smile wide as my body inflated with happiness. _In Maki's language this means that she enjoys our company... at least a bit._

"Alright..." My eyes were glued on Maki. "What about sleep, are you sleeping-"

"Eli, you have been texting me everynight... so you know very well when I was going to sleep. Do you ever stop worrying?" We kept walking side to side, I wondered if I was beeing too much for her? Maybe I shouldn't- "Were you... looking for me? Sorry to make you waste your time-"

I looked at the redhead. "Yes, I was, but that is not a waste of time!" I grinned at her slight blush, hoping that mine wouldn't be too noticeable. "Hmm... am I texting you too much? I don't want to bother you..." She looked at me with some confusion. "I just care about you, so..." I trailed off as I felt my heart eating fast.

"I-It's fine! I can handle it." I gave Maki a quick look and I couldn't help but smile. "You are not a bother, don't be so... W-Why were you looking for me anyway?" Maki looked at me, she was obviously trying to contain her embarrassment, I smiled feeling kind of guilty.

"I wanted to give you... this." I extended a big bar of chocolate towards her. Maki locked her eyes with mine and her lips uplifted, she was probably about to chuckle. "And before you say anything... It's because I know it's good fuel for the brain."

Maki laughed. "Is _that_ the only reason?" She smirked at me and I felt my cheeks to burn even more. "Maybe you wanted some chocolate and-"

"No, I got it especially for you... I didn't bought anything for myself." I locked my eyes with her to make my point clear as she flustered a bit more. "Since I can't really do much to help you... it's the least I can do." I said with honesty, I hated how nervous I was right now, even if this was't a big deal. Part of me doesn't want Maki to notice... while the other part _really_ thinks is about time she did.

"Why... you didn't waited for me to get to the music room?" Maki asked shyly, I swallowed with surprise, I didn't had an answer for it.

"I, hmm..." I looked away. "I don't know." I could feel her violet eyes on me. She continued walking, I looked at her for a few seconds before I followed. I mentally scolded myself, this was a whole new level of nervous-around-Maki that I was going through.

"You... need to learn to talk normally, you know? You say embarrassing things without noticing way too often." She voiced and looked over her shoulder, her red face was more than noticeable. "Control yourself." She said before she kept walking, I just laughed nervously in response. _You don't know how hard I've been trying to do exactly that._

"S-Sorry-"

"No- I... didn't meant it like- I didn't wanted to make you feel bad-"

"It's fine Maki. I understand what you mean." I gave her a reassuring smile that seemed to ease her worry. _Without meaning to, she said? It's not like I actually plan to act like this with her but... I do mean to._ My lips uplifted a bit at her backtracking just when we reached the music room, the redhead opened the door. _N-Nozomi..._

"I-Is she... really sleeping?" Maki asked with amusement while I sighed.

"Yes, she is." The redhead giggled while I walked towards Nozomi, who was using her own arms as a pillow. "Hey, Nozomi..." I snapped my fingers twice next to her to wake her up.

"The spirits..." Nozomi voiced groggily, taking her face out of hiding. I sighed as she yawned and stretched her arms.

"I only left for like... twenty minutes, Nozomi." Maki chuckled at the scene, making the other third year notice her presence.

"Oh, but you found Maki-chan-"

"I have no time to chat, Nozomi." Maki voiced walking towards her piano. "I still have a lot to do." I smiled proudly at her as she prepared the space around to properly make er music _. I love watching her compose like this._ "Oh!" Maki exclaimed suddendly, making me look at her while I sat down next to Nozomi. She opened her chocolate and I couldn't stop a smile, _hope you like it..._ "Here." She voiced while she stood up and walked towards us. _What is Maki even doing?_ She... she divided the chocolate bar into three uneven pieces. Maki extended one towards Nozomi who took it with some surprise. "And for you." Maki smiled so adorably... and like that wasn't enough, she had her eyes locked on mines, making me look away flushed. I decided to turn my attention towards the piece on her hand. I felt my cheeks blush, after some hesitation I grabbed it... inspecting it on my hand. "

But... why you gave me the bigger one...?"

She shrugged. "You are the one who like it the most, right?" Maki gave me _another_ sweet smile, sweeter than the chocolate in my hand. I had to bite my lip and look down, my cheeks entirely red by now. _How can I control myself if you kept being like this, Maki?_ _You are making this impossible._ "Oh, it's good!" Maki voiced like a child after she took a bite.

"It is!" I looked at Nozomi sideways, the girl already ate her entire half. "You got this for us?" Nozomi asked in disbelief.

"Eli gave it to me but I rather share it with you two." Maki explained simply and turned around towards her piano. I contained a happy chuckle.

"Ah... of course she did." Nozomi gave me one of her widest smirks, I had to look away. I was way too embarrassed... and amazed by how casually Maki did all that without even flinching. _Maki is so sweet and thoughtful, and to think that she pretends to be so tough..._

My smile had to be stupidly wide as I looked at Maki take another bite of the chocolate, then she proceeded to read read something over the piano keys- I felt an elbow hitting me. "Earth to Elicchi..." I was glad Nozomi whispered that so Maki couldn't hear. I cleared my throat but there was no use in composing myself so I decided to just eat the chocolate silently. Nozomi giggled at me.

I couldn't stop myself from admiring Maki while she ate her last bite. I took a deep breath, sideways I saw Nozomi shaking her head with a smirk, like she was giving up on me. I covered my eyes in disbelief, _how can she be so cute and adorable and beautiful and smart and... everything in between-_ I couldn't take this silly smile off my face. Even when I decided to finally focus and study... I had to give Maki a quick look from time to time. _I need to stop loosing my composure like this, I'm supossed to be confiden't but my mind goes crazy just by looking at her. Blyad..._

 **/-/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/-/**

 **Maki's POV:**

 _I will never forgive them for doing this to me, making me feel like there's not a single drop of energy in my body._ I sighed, resting my back better against the bus we were taking back home. We finished the show… and as much as I hated to admit it, it all went well in the end. _Our three groups sounded more than right, even though we rushed the songs in the end... at least the others had a lot of fun. And Eli was right, being the center is not so different when you trust the other members. The Muse's are turning me into this? Since when?_

"Are you okay?" Eli whispered softly. I knew it was probable that the other girls were already sleeping, these couple days were intense after all. The nine of us were the only ones taking the bus this late. "You must be really tired."

I opened one eye to look at Eli, she was sitting next to me, the lights outside made her shine... I sighed and closed my eye again, leaning my head on the seat. "It's not like I had to stay up all these couple nights finishing _six_ songs for a stupid event…" I voiced harshly, _but after watching the other six girls perform and enjoy themselves in their own style… I don't regret it. I just hate being this sleepy._

 **Eli's POV:**

"Your eye bags speak for yourself…" Maki chuckled a bit at my joke. _I feel so bad now._ "I'm sorry... their excitement was contagious and I didn't think it through how much work it was actually going to be... especially for you." Maki opened an eye to look at me again, I have her a apologetic smile and she closed her eyes again.

Maki sighed. "It's fine, it all worked out in the end. I just need to sleep fourty four hours straight." I giggled, she still had her eyes closed.

"Why forty four?" I asked with a silly smile, amused at her. _She looks so cute when she is tired._ Maki opened her eyes to look at me.

"Two days…" She blinked twice in realization. "I-I mean, forty eight! Ugh…" I had to chuckle. "You know what I mean…" Maki whispered, the bus was entirely silent by now. She moved her neck, the seat definitely wasn't comfortable.

"I'm proud of you." I said with honestly, _you look exhausted, Maki._ I took a deep breath of courage. "I'm going to do something embarrassing-"

"You always do that." Her lips uplifted a bit while moving on her seat. I swallowed and decided to go for it.

"You know me. Just... Come here, you silly… These seats are not meant for sleeping." I voiced softly, still blushing. She chuckled for a second.

"Silly? Why-" I used my left hand to grab one of her hands while my other hand cupped carefully one side of Maki's head to make her head rest on my shoulder. _I just want you to rest…_ I was surprised by the lack of resistance coming from Maki.

"You are sleepy and your hand is cold, so..." _Yes, I wanted Maki to rest, that she could do that on my shoulder was just a plus. And her cold hand... I wanted to warm her._ I knew that was the true but also just a big excuse.

"W-What are you-"

 **Maki's POV:**

I blushed intensively… _but it feels so good and... she said she just wants me to-_ "Just rest, Maki." Eli voiced, resting her head on top of mine.

"I don't like to sleep on public-"

"It's alright. Just... pretend I'm not here, I'll wake you up before we get there."

"A-Are you sure?" I felt the burn in my cheeks but I couldn't move, much less to look at Eli.

"You always say you are not stubborn... Well, don't be." I gulped, I noticed something so... soft about her voice, it was like a lullaby.

"F-Fine…" I stuttered, not sure about what was wrong with me, but I didn't managed to make myself pull away. I allowed Eli to hold my cold hand, her touch was warm. I let my head rest on her shoulder, let her head rest on mine… _it's just Eli, she likes this kind of... things, I guess_. "J-Just because I'm tired and this seats are killing me!"

"Mmhmm." Eli hummed in agreement. _It will be just for a second… her body is just so warm and comfortable… I-I'm just tired..._

...

 **Eli's POV:**

I smiled wide at Maki's slow breath. I sighed deeply, trying to let myself relax… _I tried not to like her and failed. Then I decided not to show it... and I also failed at that. I give up, I can't... stop this feeling. Even if Maki never notices._ I sighed helpessly, feeling genuinely happy... but there was a huge part if me that was worried. _Each time we are alone… I can't contain myself, I always end up acting like this. I just want to tell her how beautiful and smart she is. I want to hold her hand, hug her tighter… I want to be there to cheer her up and make her smile. All that was alright, the problem was…_ I glanced at my hand on hers. _That I also… want to kiss her. More than once._ I felt my cheeks burn, the I sighed again as silent as I could. I hesitated but I straightened my head to look at the empty seat in front of me. I rested my head back. _But I know better than that. I..._ My eyes trailed off and I had to smile at Maki's warmness and slow breaths. _The most I can do is be there for her. I don't want to ruin things._ I was at peace with that fact, at least for today. I felt sudden hope, _maybe one day I could actually talk to her... it's going to be frustraing to wait but Maki is worth it all._ I gulped nervously, knowing very well that I couldn't predict the outcome of that moment... but deep down I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep this away from her for too long.

I had to contain a flinch when I felt that Maki moved, thinking she was waking up… but she just moved a bit to get even more comfortable on my shoulder. I smiled helplessly as… some fingers intertwined with mines. I blinked twice as Maki tightened her grip with my hand, it made my cheeks fire up and my heart beat faster, surprised that it was even possible. Suddenly, every muscle of Maki relaxed, her fingers still brushing between mines while I felt like every inch of my body fluttering. I had to bite my lip, feeling a rush of happiness. _I… like her… I like Maki so much…_

...

 **Maki's POV:**

"Maki?" I had to frown. _I'm tired, let me sleep more, Eli…_ "Hey, Maki…"

"What now?" _W-Wait... E-Eli?_ I opened my eyes, _am I still resting on her shoulder?!_ I straighten my head, she gave me a soft smile.

"We will get to the station in a couple minutes, sorry... I didn't wanted to wake you but I guessed you preferred that instead of getting teased by the others." I blushed a lot… Eli sounded so genuine and even happy.

"T-Thanks…" I muttered, honestly thankful that Eli was like this. My eyes groggily trailed down to see… I opened my eyes wide. Our fingers were intertwined. "I-I-" I took my hand off her and it felt awful. _D-Did I do that?_ I couldn't look at her. _O-Of course I did! I don't think she sleep at all!_ I felt something weird inside me that I couldn't describe. "S-Sorry-"

"Don't worry, you were just tired…" She murmured in response. I looked at her sideways. Eli was also looking in the opposite direction, her cheeks seemed red. I looked away again, my face burning with embarrassment.

"I-I know." Something was off inside me. _But also… something felt so right just now,_ I looked at the palm of my hand where Eli's rested just a few seconds ago. _This was... embarrassing. Nice? Maybe, but embarrassing. So embarrassing._

 **/-/-/-/-/**

* * *

 **/-/-/-/-/**

 _Where is my stupid booklet! It couldn't just disappear..._ I snorted, crouching under my seat with no luck. _I already checked the music room, so it has to be here..._ I stood up, looking around the classroom itself. _Aha! There it is... someone must have found it and left it at the teacher's desk._ I grabbed it and walked through some pages... I was glad no one from my class knew how to read music. _Now, let's get back to-_

"Maki?" I turned around, the voice startled me a bit. "What are you doing here?" I chuckled at Hana's question.

"Well, it's my classroom too, you know?" She flinched but gave me a shy smile.

...

 **Eli's POV:**

I had an inner struggle. _I shouldn't look for her, I know she can go to the music room on her own. I'm going to scare her away if I keep being this-_

"Maki... Would you like to... to go-out-with-me?!" I flinched at the words that came from inside the one and only first years classroom. "Just the two of us?" I felt my face go pale as I held a breath and waited... I didn't wanted to eavesdrop but... I knew who that voice belonged to and more importantly, towards _who_ was the question.

"Y-Yeah...?" I froze. Maki accepted. Hesitantly. But she did... I turned on my heels and walked away, not wanting to hear anything else.

...

 **Maki's POV:**

"B-But why?" I asked, Hana's loud voice caught me off guard. She also was completely blushed and with her eyes shut like she was in pain... "And... where?" I was confused, to say the least. "Are you feeling-"

"Anywhere you want! Like... on a... date?" She finally looked at me and I opened my eyes wide in realisation. There were more than three meters and a couple of desk separating us, but I found myself shocked and wishing for more space.

I blinked twice, looking towards the floor, trying to process what she just asked. "Oh..." That's all I could voice as my cheeks blushed. "I..." _I what?_ My mind was blank and it all felt way too uncomfortable. _What am I supposed-_

"Y-You don't have to answer right now..." I curled my hair, like that would just... make the tension in the air disappear. "I... I like you, Maki!" I flinched again, this time I did turned my gaze towards her because she almost screamed those words.

"H-Hana?" I voiced lowly, shocked at what she said. Hana opened her eyes wide with embarrassment.

"S-Sorry... I didn't meant to..." I stood there, unable to move at all. _What is happening?_ "Hmm... I'll... leave? And wait for your response whenever you feel ready to answer... Okay? Bye." And just as sudden as Hana entered the room... she left. I couldn't quite believe what just happened. I heard about this... stuff. I read about it on books, saw it on movies... but... I blinked twice in disbelief. I was just frozen. _She said... she likes me?_

...

Eventually I managed to walk in autopilot towards the music room. The only thing on my mind was playing the piano, not only I wanted to... I _needed_ it like the air I was breathing right now. My only hesitation came when I saw Eli and Nozomi studying... they seemed really focused and I could take advantage of that. There's just a few steps towards the piano... I just need to walk fast and start playing.

After giving it some thought, I opened the door and rushed in. "Sorry for being late." I voiced as carelessly as I could, not looking at any of them as I sat down... for some reason, being here with them after what happened embarrassed me more that... what actually happened. I sighed internally, opening my booklet. _This feels surreal... why would she like me, of all people? Are we even that close for that to happen?_

"That's all you are going to say, Maki-chan? Even Elicchi couldn't find you..." I turned my head to give both girls a quick look, Nozomi had her usual grin and Eli didn't took her eyes away from her notebook, writing something on it. I did noticed she had a weird expression... I was glad she kept her focus in studying.

"I was... busy." Was all I could say before turning around to let my fingers do the talking, filling the room with music.

...

 _I don't... People date when they like eachother... but I don't have time for that nonsense! Do I even like Hana? I mean, she is nice and a bit pushy sometimes but... I guess I do like her as a friend._ I've never liked anyone in... _that_ way. _How am I supposed to know if I-_ I stopped playing suddendly. _That's right! It's like Eli said... she doesn't like anyone! And I also don't... I told her that and it's the true! I don't like anyone, that's the correct answer! Then_ -

"Maki-chan?" I turned my gaze towards Nozomi, she had an eyebrow furrowed at me while Eli... had an unreadable face, she was also looking at me this time. "You suddendly stopped playing..." Nozomi pointed out like it wasn't obvious enough.

"Oh!" I now noticed she was right. "Yeah, sorry!" I voiced a bit cheerfully as I continued to play. _I just need to talk to her and be honest... right? We are friends after all._

 _..._

 **Eli's POV:**

She said she was 'busy'... I had to bite my lower lip as I answered yet another question, not really caring if it was wrong or right. I couldn't bring myself to look at Maki. I was... frustrated. I couldn't understand how that girl could just ask the redhead something like that. She had to be certain that Maki would say yes, right? Otherwise... why would she ask? I gave Maki a quick glance, she seems... animated now. She did entered the room looking weird but now... I shook my head, it's not my business. I kept my eyes fixated in the question number 37 while I started to bite the eraser of my mechanical pencil.

"Elicchi..." Nozomi scolded me, narrowing her eyes at me. "I thought I took that bad habit from you!" I have her an apologetic smile before I returned my eyes towards the notebook.

 _I think I managed to avoid Nozomi from suspecting anything when I came with no news from Maki... now it wasn't the time to give her any clues that something was wrong._ I couldn't stop myself from glancing at Maki this time... she just kept playing, almost nonstop. My heart was racing in panic mode, Was something wrong really? I sighed, if Maki is happy... if she likes- I couldn't finish the sentence, not even on my mind.

I gulped as I looked at the redhead, how beautiful she was... inside and out. My time spent with Maki was... just the best, I loved every single second with her. I always thought that, even just as a pure friendship, Maki felt the same... But what if she started to feel what _I_ was feeling... towards other person? A simple question... yet it felt so painful.

I bite my lip hardly, _should I have asked her first? Did someone just beat me to it?_ I shook my head slightly, turning my eyes towards the only questions I alctually could answer as of now. _I better focus on studying. I have... no say in any of this_ , I took a deep breath. _Not now,_ _please,_ I begged myself, closing my burning eyes with frustration as I tried to keep my emotions under control.

...

We walked in awkward tension away from the school. Well, at least I could feel tension coming from Maki... and from me, even though I tried not to.

Nozomi just yawned. "I'm so tired today..." She voiced as we stepped out of the building.

"Me too, we did a lot of work today." I stretched my back a bit, now I realise I've been sitting too stiff all this time... suddenly Maki stopped dead on her tracks. Both of us turned towards her, she had her eyes fixed on... I looked into the same direction. _Is that... the broadcast president?_

"You two can go without me." Maki voiced sharply and walked past us towards her classmate.

Nozomi looked at me and I exchanged a look with her. I tried my best to look unbothered so I just shrugged. We silently walked towards the school entrance as Maki seemed to talk with... _Fuyumi, now I remember._ "Should we wait for her?" I heard Nozomi asking.

I couldn't find the right answer for that question, but as I looked at Maki... "Let's wait a couple minutes, maybe it won't take long?" _What do they had to talk about? I guess she is her best friend so... what does she have to talk with Maki? I did heard Maki's muted a 'yeah'... but maybe that wasn't a response?_

 _..._

 **Maki's POV:**

Fuyumi looked... stern, and maybe a bit angry. She looked like that most of the time but right now... it made me feel definitely uncomfortable, intimidated even. "S-So... you heard-"

"Of course I did." She cut me off a bit rudely, it made me lean back a bit. _Fuyumi hates me now? I didn't accepted Hana... but I didn't refused either._ Fuyumi sighed with frustration. "Sorry, I didn't meant to..." She trailed off.

"It's okay..." I felt drained, the last couple hours were a rollercoaster, _just when I calmed myself using the piano..._ It was like music gave me the answers I needed. l never pictured someone asking me that question but, somehow I wasn't nearly as embarrassed as I thought I would be. _Now?_ Now I was nervous and stressed by the way Fuyumi looked at me. _I'm not good with this! I just wish that she didn't asked me! I don't even know what to do!_

Fuyumi gestured me to sit down next to her, then there was just an unconfortable silence. "So... what are you going to do?" I moved a bit on my seat, Fuyumi seemed on the edge and maybe even more tense than me right now, which said a lot. "You should give her a chance, you know?" The implication made me frown a bit. I opened my mouth to argue but Fuyumi continued. "You can be really intimidating, you know? Hana has been wanting to ask you for a while... She is an amazing person. Caring, beautiful, dedicated... she is the whole package."

I looked at the floor. _Is she? I guess she is but... I've never really... thought about that._ "I... don't like anyone." I voiced simply as I remembered what Eli and I once talked about. And now more than ever I realised it had to be true.

"But... she asked you-"

"I'm not... lying to her." Fuyumi sighed with frustration.

"That wouldn't be lying... is just a date. Don't be selfish. What harm can it do to you?" She crossed her arms. "How can you know if you like her or not if you don't even try? It's... normal at our age, you know? You might even realize you like her when you do." _Is that true? Is this how people start... liking others?_

"I..." I wasn't sure about how it felt when you liked someone, I've never liked anyone ever. Most of all, I suddendly feel awful inside... _it's the normal thing to do._ She is right _... but why does it feel so... wrong, then?_ Maybe Fuyumi was right... maybe liking someone wasn't so easy to pin point and I wouldn't know until I... _But I don't want to like anyone! Why do I have to make this decision?!_

"Are you going to just _reject_ her?" Fuyumi spitted sharply, I had to look away... 'rejection' sounded harsh. The girl sighed with irritation. "Can you do something for me?" She asked standing up, but she didn't waited for an answer. "Just give her a chance. Don't be..." _A what?_ She sighed and walked away towards the school. "Don't hurt her."

Fuyumi walked away... My eyes trailed off towards the floor. How did a simple question turned into something so complicated? What am I even supposed to do now? It was my time to stand up, I needed to walk away from this to clear my mind but I flinched as I saw two figures there... _They were waiting for me all this time?_ I blinked and blushed as I rushed towards them.

...

 **Eli's POV:**

She is walking towards us... She doesn't have a happy face, I guess. Maki seemed just... lost in her own thoughts, maybe a bit conflicted. Was that good? Bad? What happened?

"Finally, Maki-chan... so, what do I need to do to have an alone session like that with you, huh?" Maki just rolled her eyes but she couldn't contain a smile. I felt like Nozomi did it to lighted the mood and I thanked her for that.

"What do I need to do for you to shut up?" Nozomi giggled in response. I smiled a little as they continued with their mutual teasing... that is, until we separated from Nozomi.

I felt like air was a lot denser and that Maki was far away from me... even though she was right there, maybe it was just my imagination. She seemed troubled again and I felt guilty for being unable to distract her like Nozomi did. What can I do? What could I even say? I wanted to be there for Maki for anything she needed but... if she does like someone else...I...

Maki sighed with frustration, she looked so concerned... and I lost the battle right there. If I had to get hurt to make Maki feel better, so be it. "So... you seem... troubled?" I dared to ask. Maki blushed a bit and gave me a quick look.

"N-No, I don't." She looked away, it was obvious that she was lying. I swallowed, getting myself ready to recive the final blow.

...

 **Maki's POV:**

"You know you can always talk to me... I may be able to help and I don't tease nearly as much as Nozomi." Eli noticed something was wrong... _of course she did! She always does!_ I had to look away... Suddendly, I felt like I was panicking. I was calm before I talked with Fuyumi but now... what am I even supposed to do?

I gave Eli a quick look, she seemed tense and concerned as she looked at me sideways. I sighed with defeat. "Let's just keep walking... it's nothing serious, not really..." I gulped, wishing I wasn't acting this... stupid in front of Eli of all people.

"It... doesn't look like its nothing." She gave me another look, but I couldn't keep my eyes on her. "Maki." She voiced simply as both of us stopped walking, I still couldn't look at her because something inside me felt _wrong._ The topic was so embarrassing and talking about it with Eli... just made it a lot worse. I wanted to run away... _but who else can I trust with something like this?_

"It's just... it's... not like-I mean." I had to turn my face even more away from Eli. I trust her a lot, I know that... but talking about this with her was... terrifying. "It's nothing! Just something... very embarrassing I that can't-"

"Maki calm down..." I blinked twice as she placed her hands on my shoulders... I had to look at her this time, her blue eyes eased my worries a bit. "Breathe..." I let a breath I didn't knew I was holding as I got lost in her eyes, they are so soothing. _Eli always manages to do this... give this feeling of peace, acting like she can fix any problem on earth._ "You were rambling a lot you know?" She gave me a twisted smile, probably trying to joke.

"Y-Yeah, I noticed..." I answered the question before I cleared my throat, trying to find what to say, what to ask Eli... "Can I... ask you something... _really_ embarrassing? W-Well, it's two questions really..." I gulped as I looked at the blonde. She seemed... uncomfortable.

"Yes, absolutely. I'm here for you." Eli voiced that with her usual honesty but I couldn't help but feel guilty... like I was bothering her. _I'm just making a big deal out of nothing-this isn't supposed to be a problem, this is what normal people go through... I should be able to manage it on my own!_

"Hmm... I just- Well, is hard to explain... I mean..." _People go on dates, I've seen them do that since middle school! Why can't I just suck it up and do it too?_ I felt the urge to rant about it to Eli but… I blinked when I looked at her, _I talk to her about this. Has Eli been in this situation before? It's... more than likely._ "I rather not talk about it."

I heard Eli sigh, now I fully expected her to say that she didn't had time for my nonsense. "I heard."

I opened my eyes wide, looking at her as she looked away from me with her arms crossed. "You heard what?" I was the one confused now, or maybe I didn't wanted to believe what her words implied.

"I was looking for you and I... I heard." I looked down to the floor with my eyes open wide.

"You... you heard?" It felt like a bucket of cold water fell on me. _She heard..._

"Yes... well, only what she asked you and... you telling her 'yeah'... But then I left I... didn't wanted to interrupt or eavesdrop." I had to cover my eyes with frustration, I found myself wishing that Eli interrupted.

"Ugh- This is so! Awful!" I snapped "I hate this... why! Why she had to yell it like that... I-I don't-"

"Hmm, I..." _Eli's voice..._ "I guess she... she just likes you a lot." The blonde voiced lowly, making me look at her. She was looking away from me... maybe it was to calm me but it made me feel worse. A lot worse. Her blue eyes gave me comfort, I wanted them to make me feel safe.

My thoughts were a mess, _what do I really want to ask Eli?_ "Have you... ever..." _Liked anyone?_ "Went on a date?" I decided to ask that instead, my heart was beating fast... but it skipped a beat when Eli gave me a quick look.

She looked away and I could guess what was the answer. "Hmm..." I looked down to the floor, my lips tensing up together. "Yes, I have..." _Of course Eli has... it's what's normal! It shouldn't be a surprise, she is smart and gorgeous!_ I felt... frustration and anger suddendly rising through me, I hated being forced to be in this position... to have to ask this sort of questions. I hated this day. I hated everything right now.

"Of course... Are you dating anyone right now?" I decided to look at Eli right in the eye, I wanted to know... I needed to.

"I told you I didn't liked anyone." She said that looking me into my eyes... but then they trailed off away from me and she blushed slightly. I took sharp breath with surprise, s _he… Eli is lying?_ "So... of course I'm not dating anyone. And-"

"Are you lying?" I felt my muscles tensing up. Eli flinched but then she locked her eyes with mine.

"No. I don't like... anyone in particular. That's... the true. Why would I lie to you?" Eli smiled and shuddered her shoulders... I couldn't read her right now. "You would be the first one to know if I did... I've told you that already." I blinked once, she voiced that with honesty... but the thought of that situation happening made me feel... discomfort.

"I... Hmm... sorry, this is all just making me very nervous, I guess." Eli gave me a little smile. "I... suck at this stuff..." Now I reminded what was the main issue here, I curled my hair.

"It's okay to be nervous... but there's a difference between uncomfortable-nervous and wow-I-really-like-you nervous." I had to straighten myself as Eli laughed nervously. _Has Eli felt that? The wow-I-really-like-you nervous?... probably, why would she say that if she didn't?_ It was scary to ask, so I wasn't going to.. _I don't care about that. I shouldn't._ _Why am I even asking this questions to her? This whole topic is stupid!_

I caught myself spacing out, I tried to get my sudden frustration to myself, not wanting to snap at Eli. "S-Sorry... this is all just too-"

 **Eli's POV:**

"Embarrassing?" I guessed, trying to ease the tension with a smile. Maki nodded simply. I couldn't remember when was the last time I felt this nervous... I couldn't kept this silence going or a 'wow-I-really-like-you and only you, Maki! So go out with me!' was going to slip off my tongue. "So... what were the two questions you wanted to ask?"

Maki gave me a look, her expression turned serious suddendly. "I already asked one of them." _Have I ever dated?_ I guessed it was that one. "I guess... going on dates is normal but I've never..." Maki sounded off, insecure and nervous... I was conflicted but I had to try to be as objective as possible.

"You ... don't have to pressure yourself into doing something you don't want to, you know that, right?" Maki gave me her full attention this time. "There's no normal... there's just what... what you really want to do. It's... okay if you do like her, you shouldn't be scared. I... I won't tell anyone if you decide that, I swear." Voicing that felt like a punch in my stomach... but Maki's silence felt worse. _She is probably thinking about going out with her right now..._ I inhaled sharply in an attempt to keep my composure.

"That's why you don't go on dates?" The question took me off guard, her violet eyes had their entire attention on me. "Because… I'm sure you get plenty of proposals." I blinked twice, trying to made sence of that tone she used. Maki gave me a look because of my lack of response. I cleared my throat and decided it was safer to look away.

"Because I am…" _Waiting for you?_ "Waiting for the right person." Maki was the one to blink this time.

"That… makes sense." But her stoic look didn't changed as she looked away, she seemed less nervous, at least.

I could hear my heart bumping on my ears so I didn't liked to say there silent. "What... what was the other question?"

"What..." Maki trailed off but then she looked at me. "What should I do?"

"I..." I held my breath. _Go out with me instead! I like you! I would do my best to make you happy! To make you smile and laugh! I love every single side of you! And every moment I spent with you... feels so special to me…_ "I can't answer that, only you can..." I exhaled, unable to look at her in the eye.

"That's... not really an answer." I tried to chuckle at her but no sound came out of my mouth.

"Just... you need to do what feels right for you. What makes _you_ happy, like you once told me about playing the piano. You deserve someone that... makes you smile, I guess. Someone you like-"

Maki sighed with frustration. "How do I even know that?" This was the first truly painful conversation I ever had with Maki. Not even talking about my past with her felt this dreadful.

"I... I don't think I can't tell you what to do... I'm biased, so that wouldn't be right." I had to flinch internally at my words.

"Biased?" Maki asked adorably, just like she did sometimes when she was confused.

"Yes... because you are my friend. I don't want you to get hurt. I just..." I looked away again as Maki's lips uplifted, probably at the 'because you are my friend'. "I just want you to smile." That was the entire truth, if Maki was happy then... that was enough for me, she deserves to be happy. I thought there was a possibility for this to happen eventually... but the thought of someone else making Maki laugh hurt a lot.

"I guess... I'll... whatever." I tried to give her a reassuring smile, or attempted to. _I'm not sure I want to know what that 'whatever' means._ "Thanks... for the talk, I mean." I nodded looking down to the floor.

"You don't have to thank me..." I shrugged and tried to smile, I was feeling defeated right now.

"Still, hmm... Goodnight, Eli." She voiced lowly.

"Goodnight, Maki." So that was it... I tried my best to uplift my lips until she finally closed the door... my entire mood faded right there.

I sighed, frustrated with myself. I wanted to cry or scream or both. The only good thing was that I managed to tell Maki what I heard, I felt so guilty for listening... and I couldn't hide that from Maki.

But now I only felt guilt. Pure and disgusting guilt. 'Are you lying?' Maki's words echoed in my brain. I've been hiding things from her, _lying_ to her in a way. I rubbed my two temple.s.. I've even caught myself _flirting_ in some way. I growled _, even if it wasn't intentional… I've been giving her compliments, gawking at her more than I should..._ _What kind of friend am I?! I... I haven't been honest with Maki..._ in fact, I felt like I've been lying to her this whole time. Mt throaty and eyes started to ache, that's when I could finally walk away _._

 _I need to tell her, but how do I do that after seeing her this uncomfortable? Now only that but what if she..._ I swallowed, _is this is what a horror movie feels like? It has to be..._

* * *

 **Well... I may have mentioned this already, but I'm reeeally insecure about my writing (Especially when it's not silly comedy lol) so I've been overthinking a lot with this chapter. Today I decided to post it because I DO want the story to move forward haha hope it didn't felt off and the contrast between Maki and Eli train of thought was noticeable and not weird. BTW, sorry for the whole bibi word game lmao, it was a long joke I had with how bibi came up, couldn't make myself delete it x3**

 **Let me know if it was enjoyable! (Okay, maybe that's not the right word for this ending lol) and if you have any advice/constructive criticism feel free to pm me too ^^U**

 **Also, decided to use this space to answer to anon's reviews because I can't pm them to thank them and I feel bad lol (Anon Panda, thanks for the advice on the whole texting thing! I'll fix that on ch17 and the upcoming ones!) (Anon Lucina: well, well, finally my daughter decides to appear... JK, I just love FE! Thank you for the review :') )**

 **Hope everyone reading this had a better day than Eli... IM SORRY ELI XD**


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